Pungent Jacksonia  |  

The pungent jacksonia has conspicuous orange pea flowers with red markings surrounded by large bracteoles (leaf-like structures that cup the underside of each flower). The bracteoles splay open during flowering and then close over the developing fruit, with the calyx (outer covering of the bud) characteristically erect after flowering. Growing 30 Ð 100 cm tall and 40 Ð 100 cm wide, this domed grey shrub is densely branched, with flowers scattered along pungent tipped branches. The pods are flat, covered in downy hairs and have woody valves that dehisce (split open) before dropping (Chappill 1998; DEC 2008).