About Daviesia alata Sm.
Daviesia alata Sm. is a prostrate or low-lying shrub that usually spreads to 1 metre (3 feet 3 inches) in diameter, with stems reaching up to 40 centimetres (16 inches) in length. Its branchlets are dark green, triangular in cross-section, and have wings along their edges. On mature plants, phyllodes are reduced to scales, while on young plants they are egg-shaped to linear, between 30 and 60 millimetres (1.2 and 2.4 inches) long and 3 to 12 millimetres (0.12 to 0.47 inches) wide. Flowers grow in groups of two to five in leaf axils, borne on a peduncle 0.8 to 3.5 millimetres (0.031 to 0.138 inches) long, with each flower sitting on a pedicel around 1.5 millimetres (0.059 inches) long. The five sepals are 4.5 to 6.0 millimetres (0.18 to 0.24 inches) long, and their lobes are approximately 2.5 millimetres (0.098 inches) long. The standard petal is orange-red with a yellow centre, 6 to 7 millimetres (0.24 to 0.28 inches) long, the wing petals are maroon and around 6 millimetres (0.24 inches) long, and the keel petal is maroon and around 4 millimetres (0.16 inches) long. Flowering takes place from October to December, and the fruit is a flattened triangular pod 9 to 10 millimetres (0.35 to 0.39 inches) long. This pea species grows in heath and forest habitats, found on the coast and mountain ranges of south-eastern New South Wales, between Nelson Bay, the Budawangs, and the Blue Mountains.
