Kennedia prorepens



Kennedia prorepens is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a prostrate, multi-stemmed shrub with trifoliate leaves and pale blue, violet or maroon flowers.

Description
Kennedia prorepens is a prostrate, multi-stemmed herb, the stems up to 0.5 mm long. The leaves are trifoliate on a petiole 5–20 mm long with broadly egg-shaped to wedge-shaped leaflets 7–30 mm long and 7–20 mm wide on petiolules 2–7 mm long. The flower are pale red, violet or maroon, 10–15 mm long and arranged in clusters of up to four 50–200 mm long, each cluster with two to twelve or more flowers and each flower on a hairy pedicel 1.5–3 mm long. The sepals are 5.5–7.0 mm long, joined at the base forming a bell-shaped tube. The standard petal is 9.5–15 mm long, the wings 9–12 mm long and the keel 10–12 mm long. Flowering occurs from April to November and the fruit is a glabrous flattened pod 28–33 mm long.

Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1874 by Ferdinand von Mueller, who gave it the name Caulinia prorepens in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. In 1882, von Mueller changed the name to Kennedia prorepens. The specific epithet (prorepens) means "forwards-creeping".

Distribution and habitat
Kennedia prorepens is widespread in Western Australia, its range extending to the south of the Northern Territory, north-western South Australia and western Queensland.