Pultenaea glabra

An erect shrub, growing to a height 3 metres, with hairless stems.

It is restricted to the Greater Sydney Area (possibly with inaccurate and outdated records), recorded form west of Lake Burragorang, north through Katoomba (where most records are), as well as Blaxland and possibly just south of Mount Wilson. There are records east of Kandos, near Mt Coricudgy, as well as Bucketty.

It typically grows along streams in riparian vegetation and alluvial terraces; on the margins of hanging swamps and at the start of creeklines in gullies, on sandstone soils or alluvium.

It is a listed threatened species in the wild.

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, linear to obovate, to 20 mm long and to 2 mm wide; with a concave upper surface; with a glaucous upper surface and darker lower surface.

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, flowers are about 10 mm long, arranged in dense clusters near the ends of branchlets, surrounded by leaves; yellow to red in colour; the standard petal is yellow to red with reddish markings, about 1 cm across; the wings yellow to red and the keel yellow to orange. Flowering occurs in most months but mainly from September to November

The fruit of all peas is a pod. In this species, they are to 5 mm long, swollen.