Oxylobium
(from oxys, sharp, and lobos, a pod; legumes or seed-pods ending in a sharp point). Including Callistachys and Podolobium. ORD. Leguminosae. A genus comprising about twenty-seven species of greenhouse ornamental shrubs, or rarely under-shrubs, confined to Australia. Flowers yellow, or partly or totally purple-red, disposed in terminal or axillary racemes; petals clawed; standard orbicular or reniform; wings oblong. Leaves opposite, whorled, or scattered, simple, entire, or rarely with pungent lobes. The species thrive in a compost of peat and loam, with plenty of sand added. Propagated, during April or May, by cuttings of rather firm young shoots, inserted in sand, under a bell glass. Perfect drainage is most essential. The species here described are those usually seen in greenhouses.
O. acutum (acute). fl. red, yellow, all axillary, in loose clusters, shorter than the leaves. March. l. in whorls of three, or scattered, ovate-elliptic or almost oblong, 1/2in. to 3/4in. long, tapering into a pungent point. h. 2ft. 1842. (B. M. 4040, under name of Gastrolobium acutum.) O. Callistachys (Callistachys).* fl. yellow, in dense, terminal racemes. June to August. l. lanceolate-acuminate, mostly in irregular whorls of three. h. 3ft. to 4ft. 1815. SYNS. Callistachys lanceolata (B. R. 216), C. longifolia (P. M. B. viii. 31), C. ovata (B. M. 1925), C. retusa (L. B. C. 1983). O. capitatum (headed). fl. yellow, in axillary clusters, or sometimes forming a terminal, compaet, corymbose raceme or head. June. l., lowest sometimes obovate, all the others oblong-lanceolate or linear, 1in. to 2in. long, obtuse, with a short, usually recurved point. h. 2ft. 1837. (B. R. 1843, 16.) O. cordifolium (cordate-leaved). fl. orange-red, usually three or four together, in small, terminal heads or umbels. April. l. irregularly whorled in threes, ovate-cordate, from 1/8in. to 1/3in. long. h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1807. (A. B. R. 492; B. M. 1544; L. B. C. 937.) O. cuneatum obovatum (obovate, wedge-shaped).* fl. yellow, or the lower petals purple, in dense, corymbose racemes or clusters, either all axillary or also terminal. March. l. very broadly cuneate, truncate, mostly about 1 1/2in. long. h. 2ft. 1840. (B. R. 1843, 36, and P. M. B. x. 243, under name of O. obovatum.) O. ellipticum (elliptic-leaved).* fl. yellow, in crowded, corymbose racemes. May to September. l. from oval-oblong to oblong-linear or lanceolate, mucronate, arranged in irregular whorls of three. h. 2ft. to 3ft. 1805. (B. M. 3249). SYN. O. Pulteneae (L. B. C. 1947).
O. e. angustifolium (narrow-leaved). l. long, and narrow. 1805. A handsome variety when well grown. (B. M. 2442, B. R. 392, and L. B. C. 163, under name of O. arborescens.) O. lineare (linear-leaved). fl. yellow, or of a dull red, in rather loose, terminal racemes, or sometimes in the upper axils. October. l. mostly alternate, linear or linear-lanceolate, 2in. to 6in. long, obtuse or mucronate, silky beneath when young. h. 2ft. 1838. (B. M. 3882, under name of Callistachys linearis.) O. obovatum (obovate-leaved). A synonym of O. cuneatum obovatum. O. obtusifolium (blunt-leaved).* fl. with keel and wings crimson, and the standard deep orange-coloured, and yellow at the base, disposed in terminal, often one-sided, racemes of 1in. to 2in., on very short pedicels. April. l. alternate or irregularly whorled in threes, linear, obtuse, smooth above, but clothed with silky tomentum beneath, with revolute edges. h. 1ft. to 3ft. 1825. A handsome, compact-growing plant. (S. F. A. 5.) O. ovalifolium (oval-leaved). A synonym of O. retusum. O. Pulteneae (Pulteney's), of Loddiges. A synonym of O. ellipticum. O. retusum (retuse). fl. reddish-yellow, in dense, almost sessile, terminal clusters or corymbose racemes, or rarely also in the upper axils. May. l. mostly opposite, petiolate, ovate or oblong-elliptic, obtuse, truncate or emarginate, 1in. to 2in. long. h. 2ft. 1823. SYN. O. ovalifolium. (B. R. 913.) O. scandens (climbing). fl. yellow, few, in loose, terminal or axillary racemes. April. l. mostly opposite, from obovate or ovate-elliptical to ovate-lanceolate or narrow-oblong, 1 1/2in. to 2in. long. Branches procumbent or half climbing. h. 2ft. 1825. (B. R. 1434, under name of Mirbelia Baxteri.) O. staurophyllum (cross-leaved). fl. yellow, in loose, axillary racemes, rarely exceeding the leaves. April. l. alternate or opposite, 3/4in. to 1 1/2in. long, with pungent points and a cuneate base, and deeply divided into three lanceolate, pungent lobes; the lateral ones divaricate, and sometimes again bilobed. h. 2ft. 1822. (B. R. 959, L. B. C. 1177, and P. M. B. iv. 171, under name of Podolobium staurophyllum.) O. trilobatum (three-lobed).* fl. yellow, in loose, axillary or terminal racemes, often exceeding the leaves. April. l. mostly opposite, from broadly ovate to lanceolate, 1in. to 2in. long, with pungent points, and bordered by a few distant, pungent teeth or lobes, of which one or two on each side near the base are usually larger than the others. h. 2ft. 1791. (A. B. R. 320, under name of Pultenaea ilicifolia; B. M. 1477 and B. R. 1333, under name of Podolobium trilobatum.) O. virgatum (twiggy). fl. orange, scarlet, in terminal, sessile, corymbose racemes or clusters, and occasionally in the upper axils. May. l. in threes or opposite, narrow-oblong, or almost linear, rarely ovate-oblong, very obtuse and emarginate, 3/4in. to 1 1/2in. long. 1830. (B. M. 3328, and B. R. 1647, under name of Gastrolobium retusum.)