Author Koh Lin ◦
The Sturt’s Desert Pea (often referred to in the shorten form of Sturt Pea), is also known as Flowers of Blood. One of Australia’s most recognisable prostrate ground covering plants, it can cover several square metres of ground and grow between 30-40 cm high.
A member of the pea family, Fabaceae, it was included in the original collection made in 1699 by William Dampier on Rosemary Island in the Dampier Archipelago (off the north-western coast of Australia) where he collected a specimen from:
“a creeping vine that runs along the ground… and the blossom like a bean blossom, but much larger and of a deep red colour looking very beautiful”
Source: William Dampier
The specimen, now housed in the Sherardian Herbarium, Oxford, was for many years included in the genus Clianthus and known as Clianthus formosus. It has since been reclassified and placed in the genus Swainsona (after Isaac Swainson, a scientist and plant cultivator). Formosa is the Latin formosus, for beautiful, hence the species Swainsona formosa.
Known as the “Sturt’s Desert Pea” after the explorer Captain Charles Sturt, who noted the occurrence of Swainsona formosa in 1844 while exploring between Adelaide and Central Australia. Sturt’s journal “Narrative of an Expedition into Central Australia” makes several references to the beauty of the desert pea in flower and the harsh nature of its habitat.
A popular flowering plant, the Sturt’s Desert Pea often appears in displays in local festivals and shows.
The Sturt’s Desert Pea occurs in all mainland states except Victoria and has also been seen growing in the southern most part of the Northern Territory. It is found growing in red-brown sandy or loamy soils on open plains, mulga shrubland and the desert regions of Central Australia. It is found mainly in areas where there is no grazing of livestock as the plant is eaten by cattle.
It is also a popular cultivated plant, with displays in parks and botanic gardens, and even planted by councils along road verges and roundabouts.
In its natural habitat, the Sturt’s Desert Pea is a perennial plant with an almost silky grey-green pinnate foliage which grows prostrate spreading across the ground, with erect flower clusters. There are two recognised forms of the Sturt’s Desert Pea – the inland form with a black boss, and the northern form, with a pale red boss.
There are also other naturally occurring hybridisation within the species, that have given rise to plants with a pure white, pale pink, apricot and bicolours flower, with or without the black boss.
The Sturt’s Desert Pea is the floral emblem of South Australia.
See our flora section on the Sturt’s Desert Pea.
