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Swainsona rotunda

species of plant

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 3, 2024
Entity authorityQ51045875 ↗
Source-derived summary

Swainsona rotunda is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to inland areas of northern Western Australia. It is a prostrate herb with imparipinnate leaves with about 7 narrowly lance-shaped leaflets, and racemes of up to 4 lilac-coloured flowers.

Description

Swainsona rotunda is prostrate herb with imparipinnate leaves up to 25 mm (0.98 in) long with about 7 narrowly lance-shaped leaflets, the side leaflets mostly 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long and mostly about 1.5 mm (0.059 in) wide. There is a stipule 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) long at the base of the petiole. The flowers are arranged in racemes 15–25 mm (0.59–0.98 in) long with about 7 flowers on a peduncle less than 0.5 mm (0.020 in) wide, each flower about 4 mm (0.16 in) long on a pedicel about 0.5 mm (0.020 in) long. The sepals are joined at the base, forming a tube about 1 mm (0.039 in) long, the sepal lobes about as long as the tube. The petals are lilac-coloured, the standard petal about 4 mm (0.16 in) long and wide, the wings about 4 mm (0.16 in) long, and the keel about 4 mm (0.16 in) long and 1.5 mm (0.059 in) deep. Flowering has been observed in August, and the fruit is more or less round, about 7 mm (0.28 in) long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

Swainsona rotunda was first formally described in 1993 by Joy Thompson in the journal Telopea from specimens in 1975. The specific epithet (rotunda) means "round", referring to the shape of the fruit.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Swainsona rotunda” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Swainsona, rotunda and species.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1993, 1975—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Swainsona, rotunda and species providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Swainsona rotunda”, the useful work is to connect “species of plant” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 3, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q51045875. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1993 and 1975.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Swainsona rotunda” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.