My daughter was recently in Port Hedland in WA on a swim coaching assignment and sent me a lovely photo of Sturt’s desert pea flowering there so I was interested in finding out more about it.
Seems the first person to report it was William Dampier in 1699. He saw it on Rosemary island in the Dampier Archipelago and reported it as being “a creeping vine that runs along the ground..and the blossom like a bean blossom, but much larger and of a deep red colour and looking very beautiful”! A fairly accurate description way back then and still very true today.
Dampier’s specimen in now housed in the Sherardian Herbarium in Oxford.
The next historical reference I could find for it in Australia was from Captain Charles Sturt from his expedition over the country from Adelaide to central Australia where, west of the Darling River, it was growing “amidst barrenness and decay, but its long runners were covered in flowers that gave a crimson tint to the ground.”
Although Dampier had noted and collected it earlier it wasn’t introduced to England till 1855 but had already been named for the botanist Isaac Swainson, who had a private botanical garden near Twickenham about 1789. I’m more than a little confused with some of the dates I’m finding as Sturt already knew it by its botanical name, “Swainsona formosa”, when he saw it on his expedition in 1844.. supposedly 11 years before it was introduced to England!
The aboriginal name for it is “Ngooringa” and is based on a story about a girl who fell in love with a member of another tribe. As a result, she fell ill and died but her spirit returned as the beautiful desert flower. There are variations on this story and in some it is the spirit of her son that returns as the beautiful flower after she, her husband and son are murdered by the man she was promised to in her original tribe.
I do, however, like its common Australian name, as it pays homage to the explorer who reported it and also to the areas where it grows and the fact that it is a legume.
Understandably, given its spread in the arid areas of Australia, it proved very difficult to grow in England, but was able to be successfully grafted onto a host and grown beautifully in hanging baskets.
It is a perennial but usually treated as an annual and is native to the dry arid areas of the states covering central Australia and in fact the only states in which it doesn’t grow are Victoria and Tasmania.
It is notoriously hard to germinate because of the hard outer covering of the seed. If this is nicked or if the seeds are gently rubbed between sandpaper, and soaked in warm, not boiling, water it helps. Boiling water destroys beneficial bacteria on the seed coat. They do hybridise and can be sometimes found in shades from pink down to cream and white.
Full sun, perfect drainage and protection from snails are essential to the establishment of plants and as the seedlings develop long taproots, they do not transplant, so should be sown where they are intended to grow. It is suggested that upright terracotta pipes are a good idea as they cater for the long taproot. Apparently once established they are moderately frost tolerant and I guess this should not surprise me as it does get very cold in the desert sometimes. They also require very little supplemental watering once established. This also is not surprising as they generally flourish after a heavy fall of rain in the arid areas and there often is no follow-up.
On 23 November 1961, it was adopted by South Australia as its official floral emblem. It is protected there and it is illegal to collect seeds or plants on public or crown land and even on private land, without the written consent of the owner. They are fairly serious in the protection of their floral emblem it seems!
I’ve always loved them but have never lived in an area conducive to their establishment or even seen them growing naturally, although a friend in the Bourke area has had them in her garden. Consequently, my daughter’s photo is a treasure that she knew her Mum would enjoy!
There are some beautiful natives flowering in our area at the moment and the accompanying photo shows a stunning arrangement of just a few collected from gardens locally.
Don’t forget the Gardening Extravaganza during the “Jumpers and Jazz in July” Festival. I look forward to seeing you all there in St Mary’s Hall In Wood Street on Wednesday and Thursday.
