Flora of New Zealand Series

canary-bird bush

Woody subshrub, 1-2 m high; twigs glabrous, rounded. Lvs glabrous, 3-foliolate; petiole c. 30-120 mm long; stipules inconspicuous; leaflets broadly elliptic, mucronate or obtuse, 20-70 mm long; petiolules ± equal, c. 2 mm long. Infl. terminal, on a stout peduncle; racemose with numerous fls; pedicels 10-15 mm long; bracts foliaceous, deciduous; bracteoles attached to pedicel, filiform, persistent, 4-6 mm long. Calyx glabrous, the upper and lateral teeth on each side connate to tip or nearly so, and so calyx appearing 3-toothed; calyx teeth much > tube. Standard strongly reflexed, yellowish green, ovate; wings 1/2 as long as keel; keel rounded into a short darkened straight beak, 35-60 mm long. Pod glabrous, cylindric, stipitate, many-seeded, 7-10 cm long; seeds pale brown, 6-7 mm long.

S.: known from 2 recent collections only, coastal sites in the vicinity of Nelson City.

Kenya to Ethiopia 1981

FL Aug-May.

C. agatiflora is cultivated in warmer areas and may establish as a garden escape. The sp. is very variable in Africa with several recognised subsp.; N.Z. material matches the type subsp.