desert pea were first collected by William Dampier who recorded his first sighting on 22 August 1699 on Rosemary Island. These specimens are today in the Fielding-Druce Herbarium at the University of Oxford in England. The taxonomy of Sturt's desert pea has been changed on a number of occasions. It was initially treated in the 18th century in the genus Clianthus as Clianthus dampieri, and later became more widely known as Clianthus formosus (formosus is Latin for "beautiful"). However it was later reclassified by Joy Thompson under the genus Swainsona as Swainsona formosa, the name by which it is officially known today. A further reclassification to Willdampia formosa was proposed in the publication Western Australian Naturalist in 1999; however this proposal was rejected by the scientific community in 2000. The common name honours Charles Sturt, who recorded seeing large quantities of the flowers while exploring central Australia in 1844; the second version of the scientific name honours the naturalist Isaac Swainson, and the third (rejected) version of the scientific name was intended to honour the explorer William Dampier. Most forms of the plant are low-growing or prostrate, however in the Pilbara region of north-western Australia varieties growing as tall as 2 metres have been observed. Common names The first recorded uses of common names for Swainsona formosa (Author/publication and year of first use).: showy donia (G. Don, 1832) beautiful donia (G. Don, 1832) Dampier's clianth (Veitch, 1850) Dampier's clianthus (Hooker, 1858) Sturt's pea (Adelaide Advertiser, 1858) Sturt pea (de Mole, 1861) Captain Sturt's desert pea (Aspinall, 1862) desert pea (Anon., 1864) Sturt's desert pea (Tenison-Woods, 1865) glory flower (Bailey, 1883) glory pea (Bailey, 1883) Sturt's glory pea (Anon., 1886) lobster claws (The Garden, 1890) blood flower (Parker, 1898) Dampier's glory pea (Guilfoyle, 1911) Australian glory pea (Guilfoyle, 1911) Dampier pea (Harris, 1980) It is well adapted to life as a desert plant. The small seeds have a long viability, and can germinate after many years. Seeds have a hard seed coat, which protects them from harsh arid environments until the next rainfall, but inhibits germination in normal domestic environments. Growers can overcome this dormancy either by nicking the seed coat away from the 'eye' of the seed, by rubbing the seed gently between pieces of sandpaper, or by placing the seed in hot (just off-boiling) water and leaving it to soak overnight. Once germinated, seedlings quickly establish a deep taproot,