Flowers. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, near Cooma, NSW

Flowering plant. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, near Cooma, NSW

Flowering plant. Photo: Don Wood, ACT

Flowering plants. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: R Hotchkiss, Australian National Botanic Gardens, ACT

Common Name

Silky Swainson-pea, Silky Pea

Family

Fabaceae

Notes

Perennial forb to 10cm tall or prostrate.  Leaves mostly at the base of the plant, and alternating up the stems, compound, with 5-13 leaflets.  Leaflets each 0.5-1.5cm long, 1-3mm wide, flat, more or less hairy, with pointed tips.  Flowers mauve to purple, occasionally white, pea shaped, with 5 petals, 2 almost joined together. Flowers in clusters of 2-8 flowers at the tops of the flowering stems. Vulnerable NSW. Protected NSW.  Endangered SA. Vulnerable Vic. Threatened list Vic.

Short description (as Swainsona oroboides ssp. sericea) in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales page 418

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

Threatened species profile:  http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/profile.aspx?id=10783