Bossiaea riparia

Bossiaea riparia, commonly known as river leafless bossiaea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is an erect or low-lying shrub with flattened branches, linear young cladodes, leaves mostly reduced to small scales, and yellow and red flowers.

Description
Bossiaea riparia is an erect or low-lying shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 1 m, and has flattened winged stems, the cladodes 2–4 mm wide. The leaves are reduced to small scales about 1 mm long. The flowers are arranged singly or in small groups in recesses on the side of the cladodes, each flower 6–10 mm long on pedicels 2–4 mm long with five or six bracts up to 1 mm long at the base and bracteoles about 1.5 mm long near the middle of the pedicel. The five sepals are 3–4 mm long and joined at the base forming a tube, the upper lobes 0.8–1.3 mm long and 1.0–1.5 mm wide, the lower lobes shorter and narrower. The standard petal is yellow with a red base and about 12 mm long, the wings are yellow or brownish-red and 2.0–2.5 mm wide, and the keel is red and about 3 mm wide. Flowering occurs from August to December and the fruit is a narrow oblong or elliptic pod 12–24 mm long.

Taxonomy
Bossiaea riparia was first formally described in 1864 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham. The specific epithet (riparia) means "frequenting the banks of rivers or streams".

Distribution and habitat
River leafless bossiaea grows in woodland and forest south from the Australian Capital Territory and the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales to scattered locations in Victoria and Tasmania.