Bossiaea prostrata

{{short description|Species of plant}} {{Speciesbox |name = Creeping bossiaea |image = Bossiaea prostrata.jpg |image_caption = ''Bossiaea prostrata'' near Taralga |genus = Bossiaea |species = prostrata |authority = R.Br.<ref name="APC">{{cite web |title=''Bossiaea prostrata'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/62757 |website=Australian Plant Census |accessdate=23 February 2020}}</ref> |synonyms = *''Bossiaea humilis'' Meisn. *''Bossiaea linnaeoides'' G.Don *''Bossiaea nummularia'' Endl. |range_map=BossiaeaprostrataDistMap57.png |range_map_caption= Occurrence data from AVH }}

'''''Bossiaea prostrata''''', commonly known as '''creeping bossiaea''',<ref name="VICFLORA">{{cite web |title=''Bossiaea prostrata'' |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/a6b263c4-c8c3-484d-aee2-620d17e8091b |website=VicFLORA |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |accessdate=27 February 2020}}</ref> is a prostrate understory shrub in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is a widespread species with orange-yellow flowers, purple-brown keels and trailing branches.

==Description== ''Bossiaea prostrata'' is a shrub with a prostrate spreading, scrambling habit to {{cvt|0.2|m}} wide. The leaves are dark green on the upper side and paler on the underside, ovate to rounded or oblong, {{cvt|3-15|mm}} long, {{cvt|2-10|mm}} wide and have a petiole about {{cvt|5|mm}} long. The leaves are arranged alternately, simple, smooth or with sparse hairs, stipules narrow to egg-shaped, {{cvt|1-2|mm}} long. The stems are flattened toward the apex and either smooth or with short flattened or spreading hairs. The flowers are single or in pairs, {{cvt|6-12|mm}} long, have orange-yellow standards, that are pinkish brown on the back, and purple-brown keels. The pedicels {{cvt|1-2|cm}} long, bracts {{cvt|1.5|mm}} long. The seed pods are oblong in shape and between {{cvt|1.5-3.2|cm}} long. Flowering occurs between September and November in its native range. It is similar to the species ''Bossiaea buxifolia'', but may be distinguished by its longer leaves, petioles and pedicels and more distant leaf spacing.<ref name="VICFLORA"/><ref name=Viridans>{{cite book |title=Wild Plants of Victoria (database)|year=2009 |publisher=Viridans Biological Databases & Department of Sustainability and Environment}}</ref><ref name=NSW>{{cite web |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Bossiaea~prostrata|title=''Bossiaea prostrata''|accessdate=13 May 2012 |author=|work= PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia}}</ref><ref name=NSW2>{{cite web |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Bossiaea|title=''Bossiaea''|accessdate=13 May 2012 |author=|work= PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia}}</ref>

==Taxonomy and naming== ''Bossiaea prostrata'' was first formally described in 1812 by botanist Robert Brown and the description was published in ''Hortus Kewensis''.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web |url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?TAXON_NAME=Bossiaea+prostrata|title=''Bossiaea prostrata'' |accessdate=13 May 2012 |work= Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database|publisher = Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra}}</ref><ref name="BHL">{{cite web |title=Hortus Kewensis |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/185200#page/278/mode/1up |website=Biodiversity Heritage Library |accessdate=29 February 2020}}</ref>The specific epithet (''prostrata'') is a Latin word meaning "down flat", "overthrown" or "laid low",<ref name="RWB">{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.|page =481}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat== Creeping bossiaea occurs in South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. It grows in coastal heath, grassland and open-forest on a variety of soils including clay-shale, preferring wetter locations.<ref name="VICFLORA"/><ref name="WF">{{cite book |last1=Sharp |first1=Sarah |last2=Rehwinkel |first2=Rainer |last3=Mallinson |first3=Dave |last4=Eddy |first4=David |title=Woodland Flora a Field Guide for the Southern Tableland (NSW & ACT) |date=2015 |publisher=Horizons Print Management |location=Canberra |isbn=9780994495808}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

prostrata Category:Flora of New South Wales Category:Flora of Queensland Category:Flora of South Australia Category:Flora of Tasmania Category:Flora of Victoria (state) Category:Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)