Bossiaea spinosa
Introduction '''''Bossiaea spinosa''''' is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a low, dense prostrate or rounded, twiggy shrub with egg-shaped to elliptic leaves and deep yellow to orange and pinkish-red, pea-like flowers.
Description ''Bossiaea spinosa'' is a dense, prostrate or rounded, twiggy shrub that typically grows to a height of  with its young branches whitish and side branches often ending with a sharp point. The leaves are egg-shaped or elliptic,  long and  wide on a petiole  long with narrow egg-shaped stipules  long at the base. The flowers are arranged singly, each flower on a pedicel up to  long, with egg-shaped or elliptic bracts  long at the base. There are egg-shaped bracteoles  long on the pedicels. The five sepals are green with a pink to purplish tinge and joined at the base, forming a tube  long, the two upper lobes  long and the lower lobes  long. The standard petal is deep yellow to orange with a pinkish-red and yellow base,  long and  wide, the wings are  long, and the keel dark red and  long. Flowering occurs from August to October and the fruit is a flattened pod  long.
Taxonomy and naming This species was first formally described in 1853 by Nikolai Turczaninow who gave it the name ''Platylobium spinosum'' in the ''Bulletin de la Société impériale des naturalistes de Moscou'' from specimens collected by James Drummond. In 1923, Karel Domin changed the name to ''Bossiaea spinosa''. The specific epithet (''spinosa'') means "spiny".
Distribution and habitat This species of pea grows in mallee and heathland between Lake Grace, Ongerup and Ravensthorpe in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status ''Bossiaea spinosa'' is classified as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.
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