Ornithopus compressus
L. Yellow SerradellaDecumbent or ascending annual herb to 50 cm tall; stems mostly unbranched, pubescent. Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets 15–37, oblong, elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, 3–8 mm long, 2–4 mm wide, pubescent on both surfaces, entire, apices acute or obtuse; stipules to c. 1 mm long. Inflorescences 2–5-flowered umbels; peduncles mostly 1.5–3.5 cm long; bracts leafy, pinnate. Flowers on pedicels to c. 0.5 mm long; calyx 3–5 mm long, densely hairy, teeth shorter than tube; corolla 5–8 mm long, yellow; standard oblong; wings oblong; keel obtuse, shorter than wings. Pod linear, 20–50 mm long, 3–3.5 mm wide, compressed, curved, hairy, slightly constricted between articles; beak filiform, to c. 7 mm long; articles 5–8; seeds ovoid, to c. 2 mm long, brown. Flowers spring–summer.
GleP, GipP, Gold, GGr, EGL. Also naturalised WA, NSW. Native to Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East. A fodder plant favouring light sandy soils, naturalised near Casterton, Bendigo, Yallourn, Balnarring and Bairnsdale.
Jeanes, J.A. (1996). Fabaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 3, Dicotyledons Winteraceae to Myrtaceae, pp. 663–829. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
