Gastrolobium celsianum

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Swan River pea
Gastrolobium celsianum 02.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Gastrolobium
Species:
G. celsianum
Binomial name
Gastrolobium celsianum
Synonyms
  • Brachysema acuminatumJacques
  • Brachysema lanceolatum Meisn.
  • Brachysema lanceolatum var. hypargyreumMeisn.
  • Brachysema lanceolatumMeisn. var. lanceolatum
  • Brachysema lanceolatum var. planifoliumMeisn.
  • Brachysema speciosumLesc.

Gastrolobium celsianum, the Swan River pea, is a low-growing shrub which is endemic to Western Australia.

It is a member of the pea family Fabaceae and of the genus Gastrolobium , which contains many toxic species; however the Swan River pea is not toxic and is recommended for garden use by the Australian National Botanic Gardens. [1]

The species can grow to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall by 3 m (9.8 ft) broad. The red flowers, which have a distinctive long and curving keel, usually appear between August and November in Australia (late winter to late spring). The ovate leaves are glossy green above and silvery below.

The species was first formally described by the French botanist Charles Antoine Lemaire in 1844 and published in Horticulteur Francais as Brachysema lanceolatum. In 2002 botanists Gregory Chandler and Michael Crisp reassigned the species to the genus Gastrolobium along with other Brachysema species and gave it the current name. The variety Brachysema lanceolatum var. glabrescensMeisn. was made a species in its own right and named Gastrolobium bracteolosum (Crisp) G.Chandler & Crisp.

Gastrolobium celsianum occurs in the south-west of the state of Western Australia, usually on sandy or gravelly soils along watercourses and also within mallee and woodland where it is found on flats or in moist depressions.

The species has been popular in cultivation for many years. It is tolerant of a wide range of soils but requires good drainage. Although performing best in full sun, it will tolerate light shade.

Related Research Articles

<i>Gastrolobium</i> Genus of plants

Gastrolobium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. There are over 100 species in this genus, and all but two are native to the south west region of Western Australia.

<i>Gastrolobium melanopetalum</i> Species of legume

Gastrolobium melanopetalum is a shrub in the family Fabaceae which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.

<i>Gastrolobium praemorsum</i> Species of legume

Gastrolobium praemorsum is a scrambling shrub which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a member of the family Fabaceae and produces red pea-flowers from late winter to early summer. It is not known whether this species shares the toxic properties of many other members of the genus Gastrolobium.

<i>Gastrolobium bilobum</i> Species of plant

Gastrolobium bilobum, commonly known as heart-leaved poison, is a bushy shrub which is endemic to south west Western Australia.

<i>Daviesia</i> Genus of plants

Daviesia, commonly known as bitter-peas, is a genus of about 130 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, and is endemic to Australia. Plants in the genus Daviesia are shrubs or small trees with leaves modified as phyllodes or reduced to scales. The flowers are arranged singly or in groups, usually in leaf axils, the sepals joined at the base with five teeth, the petals usually yellowish with reddish markings and the fruit a pod.

<i>Gastrolobium sericeum</i> Species of legume

Gastrolobium sericeum is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prostrate, low shrub with pendulous yellow, green, red or nearly black pea-flowers from spring to summer.

<i>Gastrolobium grandiflorum</i> Species of plant

Gastrolobium grandiflorum, commonly known as wallflower poison, wallflower poison bush or heart-leaf poison bush, is a bushy shrub which is endemic to Australia.

<i>Gastrolobium spinosum</i> Species of legume

Gastrolobium spinosum, also known as prickly poison, is a shrub in the family Fabaceae. It is endemic to Southwest Australia

Gastrolobium propinquum is a shrub in the family Fabaceae, endemic to the Southwest Australia savanna region, which is toxic to many animals. It has been given the common name Hutt River poison.

<i>Gastrolobium lehmannii</i> Species of legume

Gastrolobium lehmannii, the Cranbrook pea, is a vulnerable shrub in the family Fabaceae which is endemic to an area of Western Australia.

Gastrolobium rubrum is a shrub in the family Fabaceae. It is endemic to the south west of Western Australia.

<i>Gastrolobium minus</i> Species of legume

Gastrolobium minus, also known as broad-leaved brachysema, is a prostrate shrub which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a member of the family Fabaceae and of the genus Gastrolobium, which contains many toxic species, however the toxicity of this species is unknown.

<i>Oxylobium ellipticum</i> Species of legume

Oxylobium ellipticum, commonly known as the common shaggy-pea, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It has dense clusters of yellow pea flowers and elliptic-shaped leaves. It grows in south-eastern Australia.

<i>Gastrolobium coriaceum</i> Species of legume

Gastrolobium coriaceum is a shrub species in the family Fabaceae. It is endemic to the south west of Western Australia.

Gastrolobium acrocaroli is an erect open shrub that is endemic to an isolated location in the south-west of Western Australia. It is a member of the family Fabaceae, grows to 2.7 metres high and produces orange yellow pea-flowers in either April or September to November.

Gastrolobium brevipes is a shrub that is endemic to the Central Ranges region of Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia. It is a member of the family Fabaceae, grows to 2.5 metres high and produces orange red pea-flowers in July.

<i>Gastrolobium formosum</i> Species of plant

Gastrolobium formosum is a small, trailing shrub, with red flowers, in the pea family (Fabaceae), which grows up to a metre high, on clays and loam in swamps and along river banks. The inflorescence consists of head of four unstalked flowers which is sheathed by a whorl of large bracts, with the flower petals being obscured by the lower calyx lobes. The standard petal is less than on third the keel petal. It is native to the south-west of Western Australia.

<i>Gastrolobium nervosum</i> Species of plant

Gastrolobium nervosum is a small shrub in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to Western Australia.

<i>Gastrolobium rigidum</i> Species of legume

Gastrolobium rigidum is a small bushy shrub in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to Western Australia.

<i>Gastrolobium villosum</i> Species of legume

Gastrolobium villosum is a low spreading shrub in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to Western Australia. Like most Gastrolobiums it is poisonous to stock.

References

  1. "Gastrolobium celsianum - Growing Native Plants".