Bossiaea
(named after M. Bossier Lamartiniere, a French botanist, who accompanied the unfortunate La Peyrouse round the world). ORD. Leguminosae. A genus of elegant Australian greenhouse shrubs. Flowers yellow, axillary and solitary, the base of the vexillum or the keel generally blotched or veined with purple. Leaves simple, of various forms. A mixture of turfy loam, leaf mould, peat, and sand, with very free drainage, suits these plants best. Half-ripened cuttings will root freely if placed in a pot of sand with a bell glass over them, in a cool house. Seeds should be sown, in March, on a slight hotbed.
B. cinerea (ashy-grey). fl. yellow, the vexillum furnished with a purple circle at the base, and the keel dark purple. May. l. nearly sessile, cordate acute, ending in a spiny mucrone, scabrous above, but pilose on the nerves beneath, with recurved margins. Branches terete, crowded with leaves, villous. h. 1ft. to 3ft. 1824. SYNS. B. cordifolia, B. tenuicaulis. (B. M. 3895.) B. cordifolia (heart-leaved). A synonym of B. cinerea. B. disticha (two-ranked).* fl. yellowish-red; peduncles solitary, axillary, one-flowered, longer than the leaves. March to May. l. distichous, ovate, obtuse. Young branches terete. h. 1 1/2ft Swan River, 1840. (B. R. 1841, 55.) B. ensata (sword-shaped). fl. yellowish, with the back and base of the vexillum of a brownish orange-purple colour; keel brownish-purple. April. Branches flat, linear, leafless, toothed, the teeth bearing the flowers; upper bracts distant from the lower ones, shorter than the pedicel. h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1825. (S. F. A. 51.) B. foliosa (leafy). fl. yellow and orange. May to June. l. alternate, small, orbicular, retuse, scabrous, with revolute margins, silky beneath; stipules permanent, hooked, longer than the petioles. Branches straight, terete, villous. h. 1ft. to 3ft. 1824.
B. lenticularis (lentil-leaved). A synonym of B. rhombifolia. B. linnaeoides (Linnaea-like).* fl. yellow; keel dark brown; corolla about twice the length of the calyx; pedicels solitary, one-flowered, elongated. May. l. elliptic, mucronate. Branches terete, prostrate, puberulous. 1824. A procumbent shrub.
B. linophylla (Flax-leaved).* fl. orange and purple. July to August. l. linear, with recurved margins. Branches compressed, leafy. h. 1ft. to 4ft. 1803. (B. M. 2491.) B. microphylla (small-leaved). l. cuneiformly obcordate, glabrous. Branches terete, leafy, spinescent; young branches rather compressed and pubescent. h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1803. (L. B. C. 656.) B. rhombifolia (diamond-leaved).* fl. yellow, the vexillum having a dark red zonate mark at the base; wings red at the base; keel brownish-purple. April. l. rhomboidal-orbicular, somewhat emarginate and mucronate. Branches terete; branchlets compressed, leafy. h. 1ft. to 3ft. 1820. SYN. B. lenticularis. (L. B. C. 1238.) B. rotundifolia(round-leaved). l. roundish, or broadly obovate, somewhat mucronate, flat, four to five lines long and five to six broad. Branches and branchlets leafy, compressed. h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1824.
B. scolopendrium (plank-plant). fl. yellow, with the back of the vexillum and keel brownish-red. May. l. (when present) ovate and smooth. Branches flat, linear, leafless, toothed, with the teeth bearing the flowers; keel naked; superior bracts permanent, imbricate, equal in length to the peduncles. h. 3ft. to 10ft. 1792. (B. M. 1235.) B. tenuicaulis (slender-stemmed). Synonymous with B. cinerea.