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Swainsona kingii

Swainsona kingii is a small prostrate or ascending annual or perennial pea from arid Western and South Australia, grown for its pink to purple flowers. It is a wild desert species rarely cultivated, so care advice here is general and it suits dry, well-drained conditions.

Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Annual, Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly and let the soil dry out between waterings; it tolerates drought well once established.
Soil
Free-draining sandy or loamy mix; tolerates clay in its native habitat if drainage is good.
Temperature
15–30 °C; protect from frost.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
Western Australia to South Australia
Climate
desert or dry shrubland

About

Swainsona kingii is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is native to Western Australia and South Australia. It is a prostrate or ascending annual or perennial herb, with imparipinnate leaves with usually 5 egg-shaped leaflets with the narrower end towards the base, and racemes of 1 to 3 pink to purple flowers.

Where it grows

This species of swainsona is widespread in Western Australia, extending to the far west of South Australia, often in clay depressions, often near the edges of creek beds or lakes. It occurs in the Carnarvon, Coolgardie, Gascoyne, Geraldton Sandplains, Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert, Little Sandy Desert, Murchison, Nullarbor, Pilbara and Yalgoo bioregions of Western Australia.

Other Swainsona plants

Swainsona acuticarinata · Swainsona adenophylla · Swainsona affinis · Swainsona beasleyana · Southern Swainson Pea · Slender Swainson Pea · Swainsona bracteata · Swainsona burkei · Woolly Darling Pea · Swainsona cadellii · Swainsona calcicola · Swainsona campestris

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Swainsona kingii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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