Flowers on stem. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Joe McAuliffe, Murray Sunset National Park, Vic

Stems. Photo: Russell Best, Murray Sunset National Park, Vic

Plant. Photo: Russell Best, Murray Sunset National Park, Vic

Common Name

Flat Mallee Pea

Family

Fabaceae

Notes

Shrub to about 1.5m tall.  Leafless.  Flowers brown and yellow, pea-like, with 5 petals, two almost joined together. Flowers single or in pairs, with stalks arising from notches in the plant stems.

Differs from Templetonia egena in that the branches are moderately compressed, 2-7mm wide, and the branch tips taper but are not spine-like. Templetonia rossii in the eastern states was previously believed to be Templetonia sulcata. The description in PlantNET has not yet been changed.

Description in Thompson, I.R. (2010) A revision of the leafless species of Templetonia (Fabaceae: Brongniartiae) Muelleria 28 (1):  63-64

Description and photo (as Templetonia sulcata) in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales pages 423-424

Thompson has determined that Templetonia sulcata only occurs in the south west of Western Australia. All plants in eastern states are Templetonia rossii. The flowering branches in Templetonia sulcata are moderately compressed, 2-3mm wide, ending in a short spine.