Chorizema cordatum

Chorizema cordatum, commonly known as heart-leaf flame pea,^[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. Noongar people know the plant as kaly.^[3] It is a woody, erect, scrambling or climbing shrub with heart-shaped leaves, the flowers usually brightly coloured in yellow, orange and red.

Chorizema cordatum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Genus:	Chorizema
Species:	C. cordatum
Binomial name
Chorizema cordatum Lindl.[1]

Description

Chorizema cordatum is an erect, scrambling or climbing shrub that typically grows up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high and 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) wide. Its leaves are heart-shaped, 30–50 mm (1.2–2.0 in) long with a stipule at the base of the petiole, and often have wavy, toothed or lobed edges. The flowers are arranged in racemes up to 120 mm (4.7 in) long on the ends of branches or in leaf axils, the flowers 10–12 mm (0.39–0.47 in) wide, with various combinations of yellow, orange and red to pink. Flowering occurs from July to December.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Taxonomy

Chorizema cordatum was first formally described in 1838 by John Lindley in Edwards's Botanical Register from specimens raised by Robert Mangles in London from seed collected in the Swan River Colony.^[9][10] The specific epithet (caudatum) means "heart-shaped".^[11]

Distribution and habitat

Heart-leaf flame pea grows in forest, on rocky outcrops, along watercourses and on winter-wet flats in the Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.^[5][8]

Use in horticulture

This species can be grown as a garden plant, and does well in other parts of the country, (such as Sydney on the other side of the Australian continent). However, a summer with lower humidity is better suited for this plant. As it does not tolerate freezing, in cooler areas it requires the protection of glass.^[2] Propagation from seed is easily achieved, and cuttings strike well.^[12]