Pultenaea canescens

An erect or sprawling shrub to a height of up to 1.5 metres, with hairless or hairy stems.

It is found only in NSW, mainly in the Blue Mountains (west of Sydney), growing from Blaxland to Lithgow-area (and a small way further north); also spreading east of here to Kurrajong. There are also a few records west of Lake Burragorang, as well as in the Goulburn and Canberra regions.

It is typically found in swampy heathland on sandstone substrates.

Pultenaea is a member of the “pea” family. This generally means that leaves are alternate with stipules (leaf-like appendages) at the base of the petioles. Pultenaea spp. however, can sometimes have opposite leaves or leaves in whorls of 3. One of the key features of Pultenaea is that the stipules are fused behind the axillary bud.

In this species, leaves are alternate (although densely clustered on the stems), narrow-elliptic to narrow-obovate and concave; to 12 mm long and to 2.5 mm wide.

Flowers are, of course, pea-shaped (a term sometimes used is papilionate), with 5 petals in a fixed arrangement; the main back petal is called the “standard”, two lateral petals called “wings” and two fused petals at the bottom called the “keel” (in which the anthers and one carpel tend to be hidden).

Pultenaea spp. sometimes have bracts surrounding the inflorescences, and bracteoles attached to the calyx tube or just below on the pedicels (at different locations in different species). These bracteoles can also have accompanying stipules.

In this species, the flowers are to 15 mm long and borne in dense leafy-clusters or heads, at the terminals, yellow to orange overall. The standard petal is about 1 cm across, sometimes with reddish-brown stripes, and the wings and keel are also yellow to orange.

The fruit of all peas is a pod. In this species, they are ovate, approximately 6 mm long.