Fabaceae tribe Mirbelieae Leptosema

Leptosema
      Benth. (1837), Enum. Pl. (Endlicher), 20.
 13 spp.

      Gr.: lepto, slender and sema,
      a sign or banner, hence standard-petal.

      Western, central and northern Australia.

      Sclerophyll communities: heath, mallee, spinifex; on sandy and
      skeletal soils.

      Some species are grown as ornamentals for their showy flowers.

      Revision by Crisp, Austral. Syst. Bot. 12, 1-54
      (1999).

      Low-growing leafless plants with conspicuous bird-pollinated
      flowers. Differs from its sister taxon, Jacksonia, by
      enlargement and modification of the flowers for bird-pollination.
      Multiple embyro-sac group.

      © M. Crisp

      


      
Leptosema aphyllum, © M. Crisp



      
 

      
Leptosema oxylobioides, © M. Crisp

      


      
Leptosema chambersii, © P. Latz


Leptosema anomalum, Great Sandy Desert, WA
Leptosema daviesioides, south-west WA