Australian Capital Territory
Canberra & Southern Tablelands
New South Wales
Canberra & Southern Tablelands
There are over 12,000 pea species across the globe including herbs, shrubs, climbers and trees. They are good colonisers of bare areas assisted by their ability to trap nitrogen from the air and increase soil fertility. Many of the native species are dispersed by ants and will flourish after fire.
The native herbs and smaller shrubs are vulnerable to live-stock grazing and mainly occur in areas where grazing has been excluded or intermittent, such as within some Travelling Stock Reserves.
Although relatively few in number woody introduced peas, such as brooms, Gorse or Tree Lucerne are significant weeds. Exotic woody peas are a poor planting choice, as they are likely to stray far beyond the garden path.
All flowers of this family have the “sweet pea” butterfly shape, comprised of five often brightly coloured petals: the large upright standard at the back, two small lateral wings and the lower keel of two petals that are mostly fused.
Pea plants are generally distinguished from each other by their form (herb, shrub etc), their leaf characteristics, the colour of their flowers and the size and shape of their seed pods. Ideally postings of pea plants will include photographs that encapsulate all these features.
Photographs should show whether leaves are a single blade, or if not the number of leaflets of which they are composed. Photographs should also try and capture the pair of stipules or appendages that may occur at the base of the leaf stem. They can be leaf-like, membranous or spine like.
NatureMapr recently presented the following 2025 partner update to the Threatened Species Commissioner and Environment Information Australia teams within Commonwealth DCCEEW in Canberra.Download our 2...
New feature: special fields for collections
Temporary disruption to attributes
New feature: duplicate a sighting
Capital Ecology backs NatureMapr for 2026
