Class
Order
Family
Genus
Classification
Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Carmichaelia appressa G.Simpson, Trans. Roy. Soc. New Zealand 75: 263 (1945)
Vernacular Name(s):
Prostrate broom
Description
Prostrate, occasionally decumbent, densely branched shrub, 25(-40) cm × 1-1.5(- 2) m. Branches 30-75(-100) cm long and up to 30 mm diameter, prostrate or weakly decumbent. Cladodes 50-100(-150) × 1—2 mm, prostrate, sometimes weakly ascending, linear, striate, compressed, Canterweakly plano-convex, light green to green-yellow, sparsely hairy to glabrous, apex subacute or obtuse; leaf nodes 7—11. Leaves 1—3-foliolate, present on seedlings and rarely on adults, terminal leaflet larger; lamina 2-5 × 1—2.5 mm, obovate, fleshy, green, adaxial and abaxial surfaces sparsely to moderately hairy, apex emarginate, base cuneate; petiole 1— 11 mm long, sparsely hairy, green; petiolule < 0.25 mm long, glabrous, light green. Leaves on cladodes reduced to scales, < 0.5 mm long, broadtriangular, glabrous, apex subacute, margin hairy. Stipules c. 0.5 × c. 0.5 mm, free, triangular, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface glabrous or with a few scattered hairs and becoming glabrous with age, apex acute, margin hairy. Inflorescence a raceme, 1— 2(-3) per node, each with (2—)5—7(—13) flowers. Peduncle 1-8.5 mm long, glabrous or sparsely hairy, green, occasionally flushed red. Bracts < c. 0.5 mm long, triangular, glabrous, apex acute, margin hairy. Pedicel 2—4 mm long, glabrous to sparsely hairy, pale green. Bracteoles on upper part of pedicel, lanceolate, glabrous, green, occasionally flushed red, apex subacute, margin hairy. Calyx c. 1.5 × 1.8— 2 mm, campanulate, green, outer surface glabrous to sparsely hairy. Calyx lobes 0.2-0.3 mm long, triangular, inner surface glabrous, appressed to corolla, apex acute. Bud green or white. Standard 4—5 × 5— 6 mm, obovate, patent, positioned in central part of keel, keeled, apex refuse; inner surface with a purple blotch, white margins, purple-veined; outer surface white, green at base, purple-veined; claw c. 1 mm long, pale green. Wings 4-5 × 1.75-2 mm, oblong, longer than keel, apex obtuse; inner and outer surfaces white, and purple-veined; auricle rounded, white; claw c. 1.5 mm long, pale green. Keel (Fig. 2B) 3.5-4 × c. 1.5 mm, apex obtuse; distal part of inner and outer surfaces purple, proximal part white; auricle < 0.5 mm long, rounded, pale green; claw c. 1.5 mm long, pale green. Stamens 3 - 3.75 mm long; dorsal filaments connate for 7/8 of length, outer stamens free for c. 0.5 mm. Pistil c. 4 mm long, exserted beyond the stamens, glabrous; ovules 5-8. Pods 8-12 × 3-4 mm, elliptic to broadoblong, laterally compressed, spreading, brown or grey, valves dehiscent; beak c. 1 mm long, in a central apical position, stout, pungent-tipped. Seeds c. 2 × c. 1.5 mm, reniform, 2—5 per pod, dark purple or black, usually persistent on replum. Chromosome number In = 32 (Dawson 1989). FL Oct-Jan, FT Dec-May.
[Reproduced from Heenan (1996, New Zealand J. Bot. 34: 157-177) with permission from The Royal Society of New Zealand.]
Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
Bibliography
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61–96. [Naturally uncommon]
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42(1): 45–76.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Naturally Uncommon]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Naturally Uncommon]
Heenan, P.B. 1995: Typification of names in Carmichaelia, Chordospartium, Corallospartium, and Notospartium (Fabaceae - Galegeae) from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 33: 439–454.
Heenan, P.B. 1996: A taxonomic revision of Carmichaelia (Fabaceae-Galegeae) in New Zealand. Part 2. New Zealand Journal of Botany 34(2): 157–177.
Simpson, G. 1945: A Revision of the Genus Carmichaelia (Cockayne Memorial Paper No. 1). Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 75: 231–287.
