Kennedia rubicunda

Coral bean ( Kennedia rubicunda )

Coral bean ( Kennedia rubicunda ) or dark purple or coral bean wine of the genus in the family Fabaceae Kennedia ( Fabaceae ) was published in 1795 under the name Glycine rubicunda and received in 1804 the present name. The species name derives from the Latin word for rubicundus, crimson, red hot ' after the turbid red crown of the flower from.

Description

This fast-growing, woody, sometimes prostrate creeper is up to 4 m high. The threefold, dark green, ovate to lanceolate, sometimes roundish leaves are 2-8 cm wide and 3-12 cm long. The striking, dark red, butterfly -shaped flowers in hanging clusters appear from January to April. The 15 mm diameter blooms sit at usually 2-7 cm long stalks. The densely rusty hairy sepals are 10 to 15 mm, the crown 30 to 40 mm long. The flattened legumes are 5 to 10 cm long.

After bushfires the plant grows as one of the first again.

Distribution and habitat

The plant is endemic to Australia. It occurs in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland and is widely used there. One finds the coral bean in a variety of habitats, from the coast to the mountains, usually in the forest and in open forests, particularly in coastal areas.

Swell

• Andreas Bärtels: tropical plants. Ulmer Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-8001-3937-5, p 190