About Daviesia cordata Sm.
Daviesia cordata Sm. is a slender, erect, hairless shrub that typically grows between 0.5 and 1.2 meters (1 foot 8 inches to 3 feet 11 inches) tall. Its true leaves are reduced to scattered, spreading, egg-shaped phyllodes that measure 35 to 120 millimeters (1.4 to 4.7 inches) long and 22 to 55 millimeters (0.87 to 2.17 inches) wide, with a heart-shaped base that clasps the stem. Flowers are arranged in groups of 10 to 15 in leaf axils, on a stalk 20 to 70 millimeters (0.79 to 2.76 inches) long. Each individual flower sits on a stem 4.0 to 6.5 millimeters (0.16 to 0.26 inches) long, with two circular bracts 5 to 15 millimeters (0.20 to 0.59 inches) wide at its base. Sepals are 6 to 7 millimeters (0.24 to 0.28 inches) long and joined at the base; the upper two lobes are joined for most of their length, and the three lower lobes are triangular and about 1.5 millimeters (0.059 inches) long. The standard petal is yellow with orange markings at the base and tip, has a circular to elliptic shape, and measures 10 to 12 millimeters (0.39 to 0.47 inches) long by 6 to 9 millimeters (0.24 to 0.35 inches) wide. The wing petals are pinkish-red to purple and 9.5 to 10.5 millimeters (0.37 to 0.41 inches) long, and the keel petal is pinkish-purple and 8 to 9 millimeters (0.31 to 0.35 inches) long. Flowering occurs between July and December, and the fruit is a flattened, triangular pod 12 to 16 millimeters (0.47 to 0.63 inches) long. This species, commonly called bookleaf, grows in open forest and mallee-heath. It is common across south-western Western Australia, ranging from near Perth to Albany, in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographic regions.
