Common name: Green Bird Flower
Crotalaria cunninghamii R.Br. APNI*
Description: Perennial shrub, 1–2 m high; stems velvety.
Leaves 1-foliolate; lamina ovate to elliptic, 4–7 cm long, 20–45 mm wide; densely tomentose on both surfaces; petiole 5–35 mm long, grey at first, turning brownish; stipules 3–4 mm long, early caducous.
Racemes to c. 22 cm long; pedicels 8–15 mm long; bracts 8–10 mm long. Calyx 11–19 mm long, tomentose. Corolla mostly 40–45 mm long, greenish yellow with darker striations; the wings shorter than keel; keel with a long beak 25–45 mm long, twisted at apex.
Pod 40–50 mm long, pubescent; seeds c. 4 mm long.
Flowering: irregularly, probably rainfall–related.
Distribution and occurrence: Usually in mulga communities or on unstable sand dunes; north from Milparinka.
NSW subdivisions: NFWP
Other Australian states: Qld N.T. S.A. W.A.
Threatened species: NSW BCA: Endangered
Text by C. Gardner & G.J. Harden
|N.S.W. occurrences are: subsp. sturtii|
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.