Daviesia pauciflora

Daviesia pauciflora is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is an open shrub with many stems, flattened, linear phyllodes, and mostly yellow flowers with red, orange and dull brownish markings.

Daviesia pauciflora
Near Esperance
Conservation status
Priority Three — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Genus:	Daviesia
Species:	D. pauciflora
Binomial name
Daviesia pauciflora Crisp[1]

Habit

Description

Daviesia pauciflora is an open shrub that typically grows to a height of up to about 30–80 cm (12–31 in) and has many ribbed stems. Its phyllodes are scattered and erect, linear and flattened, up to 400 mm (16 in) long and 1.0–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) wide with parallel ribs. The flowers are arranged in leaf axils in racemes of up to three, the raceme on a peduncle 1–13 mm (0.039–0.512 in) long, the rachis up to 5 mm (0.20 in) long, each flower on a pedicel 1.5–10 mm (0.059–0.394 in) long with egg-shaped bracts 1.0–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) long at the base. The sepals are 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long and joined for most of their length apart from five small lobes. The standard petal is broadly elliptic with a notched centre, about 8 mm (0.31 in) long, 10 mm (0.39 in) wide, and mostly yellow with a red base and yellow centre. The wings are about 6 mm (0.24 in) long and dark red with orange tips, the keel about 5 mm (0.20 in) long and dull brownish. Flowering occurs from October to January and the fruit is a flattened, triangular pod 11–14 mm (0.43–0.55 in) long.^[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

Daviesia pauciflora was first formally described in 1995 by Michael Crisp in Australian Systematic Botany from specimens collected by Anthony Orchard near Esperance in 1968.^[2][4] The specific epithet (pauciflora) means "few-flowered".^[5]

Distribution and habitat

This daviesia grows in tall, dense heath from near Munglinup to Esperance in the Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions in the south of Western Australia.^[2][3]

Conservation status

Daviesia pauciflora is listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions,^[3] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.^[6]

References

1. "Daviesia pauciflora". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
2. Crisp, Michael D.; Cayzer, Lindy; Chandler, Gregory T.; Cook, Lyn G. (2017). "A monograph of Daviesia (Mirbelieae, Faboideae, Fabaceae)". Phytotaxa. 300 (1): 57–59. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.300.1.1.
3. "Daviesia pauciflora". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
4. "Daviesia pauciflora". APNI. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
5. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 272. ISBN 9780958034180.
6. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 18 March 2022.