Hovea magnibractea
I.Thomps.Shrub to 2.5 m high; branchlets villous with dense, brown, short, weakly appressed hair. Leaves narrow-oblong to linear or lanceolate, (2–)3–8 cm long, (3–)4–9 mm wide, apex obtuse to acute; upper surface flat to weakly arched up either side of depressed midrib, glabrous, smooth; lower surface with dense curled to straight tan or orange-brown hairs that obscure the lamina, occasionally with scattered longer hairs; margins recurved to revolute; stipules narrow-ovate, 1–2 mm long, usually densely hairy. Inflorescence sessile, commonly 2-flowered; pedicle 1.5–2 mm long; bract inserted immediately below bracteoles, ovate, 3–5 mm long; bracteoles lanceolate, 3–5 mm long; calyx 4.5–7 mm long; corolla mauve; standard 7.5–10 mm long (including claw), c. as wide as long; keels shorter than wings; stamen-filaments to 6 mm long. Pod sessile, with moderate cover of pale golden indumentum. Flowers Sep.–Dec.
EGL, EGU, VAlp. Also Tas. Apparently restricted to Mt Elizabeth, Mt Nunniong, and the Wombargo Range in eastern Victoria, grows on steep rocky slopes and edges of boulder-scree in open montane forest.
Similar in many respects to Hovea purpurea (upper surface of leaves smooth, bracts large and broad), but distinguished by the much smaller flowers, and bracts with shorter hairs.
The previous Flora of Victoria account treated this species as a variant of H. pannosa (Ross 1996).
SpinningSynonyms
Ross, J.H. (1996). Hovea. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 3, Dicotyledons Winteraceae to Myrtaceae, pp. 804–808. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
