About Swainsona queenslandica Joy Thomps.
Swainsona queenslandica is a perennial herb that typically grows to a height of over 1 metre (3 feet 3 inches). Its leaves are imparipinnate, 5–10 millimetres (0.20–0.39 inches) long, borne on a short petiole, and hold between 19 and 25 egg-shaped leaflets, with the narrower end of each leaflet oriented toward the base. Lower leaflets are mostly 10–20 millimetres (0.39–0.79 inches) long and 2–3 millimetres (0.079–0.118 inches) wide. A stipule up to around 3 millimetres (0.12 inches) long grows at the base of the petiole. Flowers are arranged in racemes that hold 20 or more individual flowers, borne on a peduncle 1–2 millimetres (0.039–0.079 inches) wide. Each flower is mostly 15 millimetres (0.59 inches) long, on a pedicel around 5 millimetres (0.20 inches) long. The sepals are joined at the base, forming a tube 2–3 millimetres (0.079–0.118 inches) long, and the sepal lobes are much longer than the tube. Petals range in colour from white and pinkish to orange-red or dark red. The standard petal is around 15 millimetres (0.59 inches) long and wide, the wing petals are around 10–15 millimetres (0.39–0.59 inches) long, and the keel is around 10–15 millimetres (0.39–0.59 inches) long and 4–5 millimetres (0.16–0.20 inches) deep. The fruit is broadly elliptic, 25–40 millimetres (0.98–1.57 inches) long and around 15 millimetres (0.59 inches) wide. This species of pea grows in a variety of soil types, found in coastal and inland parts of central and south-eastern Queensland, and in inland areas of north-eastern New South Wales.
