Flowers and leaves. Photographer Russell Best, Murray Sunset National Park, Vic

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Chris Lindorff, N of Hopetoun, Vic

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Chris Clarke, N of Hopetoun, Vic

Shrub. Photographer Russell Best, Big Desert Wilderness, Vic

Common Name

Mallee Aotus

Family

Fabaceae

Notes

Shrub to 60cm tall. Branches often ending in short spines. Leaves alternating up the stems, opposite each other, or in whorls of 3 or more, 0.5-1cm long, linear, about 1mm wide, sparsely hairy, edges rolled under. Flowers mainly yellow from the front, the front of the upright petal and the two side petals each with a red blotch at the base, the two petals joined together in the middle of the flower crimson to purple. Flowers pea-shaped, with 5 petals, 2 almost joined together. Flowers in groups of 1-2 on short stalks arising from the bases of the upper leaves.

Differs from Aotus ericoides in that the tips of the branches are often spiny, and the stems just below the flowers are sparsely hairy, the hairs not obscuring the surface.

PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Aotus~subspinescens