Sturt's desert pea

Sturt's Desert Pea

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Sturt's desert pea

Sturt's Desert Pea, Swainsona formosa, is an Australian

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
plant in the genus Swainsona

Swainsona

Swainsona is a large genus of flowering plants native to Australasia. There are 85 species, all but one of which is endemic to Australia; the exception, Swainsona novae-zelandiae, occurs only in New Zealand....
, named after English botanist Isaac Swainson
Isaac Swainson

Isaac Swainson was the son of John Swainson , yeoman, of High House, Hawkshead, Lancashire. He was famous for his botanical garden, which was largely funded from the profits of a herbal remedy for venereal disease, and a plant genus is named after him....
, famous for its distinctive blood-red leaf-like flowers, each with a bulbous black centre, or "boss". It is one of Australia's best known wildflowers. It is native to the arid
Arid

A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the Individual growth and Morphogenesis of plant and animal life....
regions of central and north-western Australia, and its range extends into all mainland Australian states with the exception of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)

File:Map Victoria Aboriginal tribes .jpgVictoria is a States and territories of Australia located in the southeastern corner of Australia. It is the smallest mainland state in area but the most Population density and urbanised....
.

Specimens of Sturt's Desert Pea were first collected by William Dampier
William Dampier

William Dampier was an England buccaneer, sea captain, author and scientific observer. He was the first Englishman to explore or map parts of New Holland and New Guinea....
on 1 September 1699. These specimens are today in the Sherardian herbarium
Herbarium

In botany, a herbarium is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in alcohol or other preservative....
at Oxford University .

The taxonomy
Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word comes from the Greek language ', taxis and ', nomos .Taxonomies, or taxonomic schemes, are composed of taxonomic units known as taxa , or kinds of things that are arranged frequently in a hierarchical structure....
of Sturt's Desert Pea has been changed on a number of occasions. It was initially treated in the 18th century in the genus Clianthus as Clianthus dampieri, and later became more widely known as Clianthus formosus (formosus is Latin for "beautiful"). However it was later reclassified under the genus Swainsona as Swainsona formosa, the name by which it is officially known today.

A further reclassification to Willdampia formosa was proposed in the publication Western Australian Naturalist in 1999; however this proposal was rejected by the scientific community in 2000.

The common name honours Charles Sturt
Charles Sturt

Captain Charles Napier Sturt was an England explorer of Australia, part of the European Exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from both Sydney and later from Adelaide....
, who recorded seeing large quantities of the flowers while exploring central Australia in 1844; the second version of the scientific name honours the naturalist Isaac Swainson
Isaac Swainson

Isaac Swainson was the son of John Swainson , yeoman, of High House, Hawkshead, Lancashire. He was famous for his botanical garden, which was largely funded from the profits of a herbal remedy for venereal disease, and a plant genus is named after him....
, and the third (rejected) version of the scientific name was intended to honour the explorer William Dampier
William Dampier

William Dampier was an England buccaneer, sea captain, author and scientific observer. He was the first Englishman to explore or map parts of New Holland and New Guinea....
.

Description

Sturt's Desert Pea is a member of Fabaceae
Fabaceae

Fabaceae or Leguminosae is a large and economically important family of flowering plants, which is commonly known as the legume family, pea family, bean family or pulse family....
, subfamily Faboideae
Faboideae

Faboideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae....
, however its flowers are so different from its relations that it is almost unrecognisable as a member of the pea family. The flowers are around 9 centimetre
Centimetre

A centimetre is a Units of measurement of length in the metric system, equal to one hundredth of a metre, which is the current International System of Units SI base unit of length....
s in length and grow in clusters of around half a dozen on thick vertical stalks, which spring up every 10-15 centimetres along the prostrate stems, which may be 1 to 1.5 metres in length. The plant blooms from spring to summer, particularly after rain. There is a natural pure white form, as well as hybridised varieties which can have flowers ranging from red to pink, as well as yellow, with or without the central boss. Approximately 15 silky grey-green leaves rise from each prostrate branch; both branches and leaves are covered with soft hair-like filaments. The fruit is a legume
Legume

A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A legume fruit is a Fruit#Simple fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually Dehiscence on two sides....
, about 5 centimetres long, and yields several flat, kidney-shaped seeds at maturity.

Most forms of the plant are low-growing or prostrate, however in the Pilbara region of north-western Australia varieties growing as tall as 2 metres
Metre

The metre or meter is a Unit of measurement of length. It is the SI base unit of length in the metric system and in the International System of Units , used around the world for general and scientific purposes....
have been noted .

Life cycle
A short-lived perennial
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
, it is often treated as an annual
Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
when domestically grown. However if the roots are left undisturbed, flowering may resume in the next season.

It is well adapted to life as a desert plant. The small seeds have a long viability
Viability

Viability means in general "capacity for survival" and is more specifically used to mean a capacity for living, developing, or germinating under favorable conditions....
, and can germinate after many years. It has a hard seed coat, which protects the seed from harsh arid environments until the next rainfall, but inhibits germination in normal domestic environments. Growers can overcome this either by nicking the seed coat away from the 'eye' of the seed, by rubbing the seed gently between pieces of sandpaper, or by replicating a desert rainstorm and placing the seed in very warm (but not boiling) water and leaving it to soak overnight. Boiling water should not be used as beneficial bacteria on the seed coat would be destroyed.

Once germinated, seedlings quickly establish a deep taproot
Taproot

A plant's taproot is a somewhat straight tapering root that grows vertically downward. It forms a center from which other roots sprout laterally....
, vital for desert survival. This means that if domestically grown, they should either be planted in their intended final location, transplanted as soon as possible after germination, or grafted as a seedling on to a different root such as the bladder senna, Colutea arborescens. They do not tolerate disturbance of their roots but, once established in well-drained soil, require little and infrequent watering, and can withstand extreme heat and sunshine, as well as light frosts.

Use as emblem

Sturt's Desert Pea (described as Clianthus formosus) was adopted as the floral emblem

List of Australian floral emblems

This is a list of Australian floral emblems. The selection of a national emblem in the early years of the twentieth century was hotly contested between those who supported the wattle, and those in favour of the New South Wales waratah ....
of the state of South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a States and territories of Australia of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
on 23 November 1961. It is not endangered, but it is illegal to collect specimens of the plant from Crown land

Crown land

Crown land is a designated area belonging to the Crown, the equivalent of an Fee tail Estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be Title from it....
without a permit. The plants must not be collected from private land without the written consent of the land owner.

Sturt's Desert Pea has appeared in several releases of sets of six Australian postage stamps depicting Australian floral emblems (issued in 1968, 1971 and 1975) .

External links

(official website)
(Australian National Botanic Gardens website)
(hosted by Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University

Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus university in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. It has campuses at Bathurst, New South Wales, Albury, New South Wales, Dubbo, New South Wales, Orange, New South Wales and Wagga Wagga....
, New South Wales
New South Wales

New South Wales is Australia's oldest and most populous States and territories of Australia, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria and south of Queensland....
.
from Gardening Australia, a TV programme of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as the ABC, is Australia's national Public broadcasting.With a budget of Australian dollar840 million annually, the corporation provides television, radio, online and mobile services throughout metropolitan and regional Australia, as well as overseas through the Australia Net...
.
(designed for the South Australian Centenary in 1936 by Thelma Thomas Afford, of Adelaide
Adelaide

Adelaide is the List of Australian capital cities and most populous city of the Australian States and territories of Australia of South Australia, and is the fifth-largest city in Australia, with a population of more than 1.1 million....
).