Bossiaea saxosa

Bossiaea saxosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to a restricted area near Norseman, Western Australia. It is an erect, intricately branched shrub with many slightly flattened, sharply-pointed cladodes and deep yellow, red and lemon-yellow, pea-like flowers.

Description
Bossiaea saxosa is an erect, intricately-branched shrub that typically grows up to 1.5 m high and wide with hairy young growth. The branches are slightly flattened, ending in sharply pointed cladodes 1–2 mm wide. The leaves, when present, are reduced to dark, reddish-brown scales 0.7–1 mm long. The flowers are arranged singly at nodes along the cladodes, each flower on a hairy pedicel up to 5 mm long with egg-shaped bracts up to 1 mm long at the base and egg-shaped bracteoles 0.8–1.3 mm long on the pedicels. The five sepals are hairy and joined at the base, forming a tube 1.6–3.5 mm long, the two upper lobes 1.6–3.0 mm long and the lower lobes 1.2–2.0 mm long. The standard petal is deep yellow with a red base and 7.2–9.6 mm long, the wings deep yellow and 6.6–8.2 mm long, and the keel lemon-yellow and 3.5–4.5 mm long. Flowering occurs from September to early October and the fruit is an oblong pod 13–21 mm long.

Taxonomy and naming
Bossiaea saxosa was first formally described in 1994 by James Henderson Ross in the journal Muelleria from specimens he collected near Norseman in 2000. The specific epithet (saxosa) means "of rocky or stony places".

Distribution and habitat
This bossiaea is only known from a small area north of Norseman where it grows in woodland.

Conservation status
Bossiaea saxosa is classified as "Priority One" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations which are potentially at risk.