About Podolobium ilicifolium (Andrews) Crisp & P.H.Weston
Podolobium ilicifolium (commonly known as prickly shaggy-pea) is an upright shrub that grows up to 3 m (9.8 ft) tall. Its stems are either mostly smooth or covered in soft hairs. Leaves are arranged opposite or nearly opposite to one another, and are oval to narrowly oval in shape. They measure 2–10 cm (0.79–3.94 in) long and 10–30 mm (0.39–1.18 in) wide, growing from a petiole about 3 mm (0.12 in) long. The upper leaf surface is smooth, distinctly veined, and shiny, while the lower surface sometimes has soft hairs. Leaf margins are lobed, each lobe ending in a sharp point. Inflorescences grow from leaf axils or at the ends of branches, each flower attached to a 1–3 mm (0.039–0.118 in) long pedicel. The corolla is 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) long: the standard petal is yellow or yellowish-orange with a reddish centre, the wing petals are yellowish, and the keel is red. Flowering occurs from spring to early summer. The fruit is an oval or oblong pod around 10 mm (0.39 in) long and 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) in diameter, which may be either straight or curved. This common species is found in dry or moist sclerophyll forest in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, where it often grows on clay or sandstone-based soils.
