Swainsona

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Plant Characteristics
Habit   shrub

Lifespan: ⌛ perennial
Cultivation
Scientific Names

Fabaceae >

Swainsona >


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Swainsona is a large genus of flowering plants native to Australasia. There are 85 species, all but one of which is endemic to Australia; the exception, S. novae-zelandiae, occurs only in New Zealand.

A member of the family Fabaceae (legumes, it is most closely related to the New Zealand genera Montigena (scree pea), Clianthus (kakabeak), and Carmichaelia (New Zealand broom).[1]

Swainsona is named after English botanist Isaac Swainson.

A few species are known to produce swainsonine, a phytotoxin harmful to livestock (see Locoweed). In Australia, animals intoxicated with swainsonine are said to be pea struck.


Read about Swainsona in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

Swainsona (named for Isaac Swainson, an English horticulturist of the latter part of the eighteenth century). Often incorrectly spelled Swainsonia. Leguminosae. Glabrous or subappressed-pilose herbs or subshrubs, adapted to greenhouse culture or out-of-doors in the extreme South.

Leaves odd-pinnate; lfts. many without stipels; stipules frequently herbaceous, base broad, rarely bristle-like: fls. blue-violet, purple, red, rarely white or yellowish, in axillary, usually peduncled racemes; calyx-teeth subequal or the 2 upper shorter; standard orbicular or reniform, spreading or reflexed; wings oblong, falcate or somewhat twisted; keel broad, incurved, obtuse; stamens 9 and 1; ovary sessile or stipitate, many-ovuled: legume ovoid or oblong, turgid or inflated, coriaceous or membranaceous.—About 30 species, Austral. Differs from Colutea chiefly in smaller stature and the large lateral stigma. By far the most popular kind is S. galegifolia var. albiflora.

S. alba, Hort., is mentioned in the horticultural journals as a form with snow-white fls.; possibly only a variation of S. galegifolia. G.W. 3. pp. 353, 354; 11, p. 13. Var. grandiflora, Hort., is offered in the trade.—S. atrococcinea, Carr. Similar to S. Ferrandii but with larger lvs.: infl. large; peduncle slightly purplish: fls. purplish red, standard broad-spread, 2-lobed, slightly convex, with a white spot at base, keel brilliant red-violet. A horticultural form.—S. Ferrandii, Hort. Perennial, 12-20 in. high, much branched: lvs. compound, unevenly so; lfts. numerous, elliptic, apex rounded, glabrous: fls. in axillary racemes; peduncle short and arched; standard broadly expanded; wings much reduced; keel small. Probably of garden origin. Var. alba, Hort., has pure white fls. Var. carminea, Hort., has carmine-pink fls.—S. grandiflora var. alba, Hort., is offered in the trade, very probably is a form of S. galegifolia.—S. rosea var. grandiflora, Hort., is offered in the trade.—S. splendens, Hort., appears in the trade. CH


The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.


Cultivation

Propagation

Pests and diseases

Species

Selected species

Gallery

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References

  1. ↑ Wagstaff, Steven J.; Peter B. Heenan and Michael J. Sanderson (1999). "Classification, origins, and patterns of diversification in New Zealand Carmichaelia (Fabaceae)". American Journal of Botany (American Journal of Botany, Vol. 86, No. 9) 86 (9): 1346–1356. doi:10.2307/2656781. http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/reprint/86/9/1346. Retrieved 2008-07-26. 

External links


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