Plants of
South Australia
Templetonia stenophylla
Fabaceae
Leafy templetonia
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
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Near threatened
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Vulnerable
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Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
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Coober Pedy
Hawker
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 4

Prior names

Templetonia muelleri

Bossiaea stenophylla

Etymology

Templetonia named after John Templeton (1766-1825) of Belfast and a founding member of the Belfast Natural History Society. Stenophylla from the Greek 'stenos' meaning narrow and 'phylla' meaning leaf.

Distribution and status

Found in a restricted area around Bordertown with a few collections near Hartley. Also occurs in Queensland, New Wales and Victoria. Native. Very rare in South Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Murray, South Eastern
NRM regions: South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Perennial shrub with many twiggy stems. Upper leaves are linear and lower leaves are narrow-oblong. Flowers are brown-yellow pea flowers at the base of leaves, appearing in winter and spring. Fruits are balloon-like pods with few seeds. Seeds are brown-orange ovoid seeds to 6 mm long, with a large aril at one end. Seed embryo type is investing.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between December and February. Collect mature pods when turning brown with hard seeds inside. Place the pods in a tray to dry for a week. Ensure the tray is covered with newspaper to prevent the seeds from popping out. Then rub the dried pods carefully to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. This species has physical dormancy that needs to be overcome for the seed to germinate (e.g. nicking or softening the seed coat).

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
 
MSB

1,200 (17.94 g)
402-Feb-2006HPV3018
South Eastern
BGA280 (3.58 g)30+2-Dec-2004Wolsely Common
South Eastern
15-Feb-2011N/C-18°C
BGA960 (16.1 g)100+22-Nov-2011HPV3018
South Eastern
1-Nov-201295%-18°C
BGA740 (13.76 g)5018-Dec-2008DJD1444
Murray
1-Nov-201298%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.