South Australia's beautiful floral emblem - Sturt's Desert Pea

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When we were in Hawker recently on the edge of the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, we saw Sturt’s Desert Pea (Swainsona Formosa) blooming in a street garden. It is a member of the pea family although nothing like most of its relatives. The flowers are blood-red with a bulbous black centre. It is South Australia’s floral emblem and is native to arid country in central and north-western Australia. Today there are plants in a herbarium at Oxford University that come from seeds first collected by William Dampier in 1699. The common name commemorates the explorer, Charles Sturt, who reported seeing expanses of the flower through Central Australia in 1844. It is a legume and most forms are very low-growing. There are now a number of cultivars available in several different colourforms. It is well adapted to arid conditions and the seeds can germinate after many years of dormancy. If trying to grow the plant in a domestic garden, the hard seed coat needs to be perforated in some way by soaking overnight in hot water or rubbing the seed gently with sandpaper. The ones at Hawker were past their best so the photo is from Kings Park in Perth, Western Australia.