thorny bitter-pea

Daviesia pectinata is a dense, rigid shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) and has branchlets that are triangular in cross-section. Its phyllodes are vertically flattened, triangular and often crowded, 8–70 mm (0.31–2.76 in) long, 2–9 mm (0.079–0.354 in) high and sharply pointed. The flowers are arranged in leaf axils in one or two racemes of three to ten flowers, the racemes on a peduncle 1.0–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) long, the rachis 2–10 mm (0.079–0.394 in) long, each flower on a pedicel 0.75–1.5 mm (0.030–0.059 in) long. The sepals are 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long and joined to form a bell-shaped base, the upper two lobes joined for most of their length and the lower three 0.5–1.0 mm (0.020–0.039 in) long. The standard petal is elliptic with a notched centre, 4.5–5.0 mm (0.18–0.20 in) long and 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) wide, yellow grading to an orange to dark reddish base and yellow centre. The wings are about 5 mm (0.20 in) long and orange with a reddish centre, the keel 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long and orange-brown. Flowering occurs in September and October and the fruit is a flattened, triangular pod 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) long.

Thorny bitter-pea grows in open forest, woodland or mallee from the Eyre and Fleurieu Peninsulas to Goolwa in South Australia and in the Little Desert and Horsham areas of western Victoria.

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