Daviesia glossosema

Daviesia glossosema is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.5–1 m (1 ft 8 in – 3 ft 3 in) and has spreading, tangled branches with glaucous foliage. Its leaves are reduced to scattered, erect, needle-shaped, sharply-pointed phyllodes 8–40 mm (0.31–1.57 in) long and about 1 mm (0.039 in) wide. The flowers are arranged in racemes of two to five on a peduncle 4–7 mm (0.16–0.28 in) long, the rachis 1–3 mm (0.039–0.118 in) long, each flower on a pedicel 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long with bracts about 1 mm (0.039 in) long at the base. The sepals are about 4 mm (0.16 in) long and joined at the base with minute teeth. The petals are maroon, the standard egg-shaped, 10.0–10.5 mm (0.39–0.41 in) long and curved backwards, the wings about 11.5–13.5 mm (0.45–0.53 in) long and curved inwards exposing the keel and stamens, and the keel is about 8 mm (0.31 in) long. Flowering occurs from September to November and the fruit is an inflated triangular pod 14–20 mm (0.55–0.79 in) long.[2][3][4][5]

Daviesia glossosema was first formally described in 1995 by Michael Crisp in Australian Systematic Botany.[6] The specific epithet (glossosema) is derived from words meaning "tongue" and "standard", referring to the unusual shape of that petal.[2]

Maroon-flowered daviesia grows in heath in a small area of the Stirling Range in the south-west of Western Australia.[2][3][4]

Daviesia glossosema is listed as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and an Interim Recovery Plan has been prepared.[2][3]