Australian Wildflowers - Sturt Desert Pea
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (340210)
Rockingham, Australia
February 23, 2016 5:25pm CST
Another beautiful Australian wildflower is Sturt's Desert Pea (Swainsona Formosa). Sturt was an early explorer and the wildflower which takes his name is the floral emblem of South Australia.
It is found in the arid areas of central and north-western Australia. We photographed this one in King's Park, Perth, Western Australia. It is a spreading plant and might cover an area of 2 metres (6 feet) diameter. The pea-shaped flowers are a bright blood-red with a bulbous black centre. Against the grey green leaves, it makes a striking display. During a good season, the plants form a scarlet carpet in arid, sandy areas.
Some aboriginal Koori tribes call the Sturt desert pea the 'flower of blood'. There is a legend of a young woman who elopes with a younger lover, rather than marry an older man. The man and some friends tracked the lovers, killing them and their relatives. When he returned to the place of the murders sometime later, the area was covered with these scarlet flowers.
25 people like this
27 responses
@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Feb 16
It looks really attractive in the new format, doesn't it?
@Kingsley4o (62)
• Lagos, Nigeria
24 Feb 16
It's attractive, hope I'll see them one day. They are so lovely!!!!
1 person likes this
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
24 Feb 16
This is so nice and the pic is gorgeous in the new format- looks like I'm just in the new myLot without trying. What a different flower and it looks tropical. Judy- this would so nice in the flower arrangement for our lunch---sorry.......LOL!
2 people like this
@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Feb 16
@MarymargII Bunbury is in the south-west Western Australia - about 190 kms south of our capital and about 30 minutes from the coast.
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@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Feb 16
Seems the new version is now standard. If you all come to see, I'll make sure I have a dozen of these on the table. 
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
24 Feb 16
@JudyEv What part of Australia is Burnaby in- the flower droops and reminds me a little of a fuchsia flower but of course it is so much smaller. And I love those native legends. Almost always about young lovers. There's a few lovely stories here in the more Northern parts of Canada- especially in the lake areas, which are many. :)
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
24 Feb 16
Wildflowers are amongst the most beautiful flowers that I know. Love to find new to me flowers that grow amongst the land.
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@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Feb 16
@ElusiveButterfly I think they bloom for quite some time before dieing back but I'm not sure.
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@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
25 Mar 16
stunnin'! i wonder if'n such'd survive our extremes? dang, now i gotta do me some huntin' to find out, lol. i bet 'tis simply breathtakin' to see 'em bloomin', that scarlet carpet callin' out to all to come'n admire.
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@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
4 Apr 16
@JudyEv 'fter searchin' online, i fear i'm unable to come'p with any seeds/plants'f this nature'n the u.s. :( danged the luck, coz what a treasure they'd be!
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@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
5 Apr 16
@crazyhorseladycx I think they have always been a bit hard to grow although there are probably hybrids available now.
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@Daljinder (23236)
• Bangalore, India
27 Feb 16
A lovely shade of red... bright and beautiful
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@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Feb 16
@Daljinder Wow!! How clever are you! Thanks very much for going to this trouble. I've edited my post and the photo seems fine at the moment. There is no need to delete it unless you want to. Thanks again. I really appreciate it.
1 person likes this
@Daljinder (23236)
• Bangalore, India
28 Feb 16
@JudyEv Okay I edited your photo size and now it shows up like this... You can save this image and try putting this one in the post of yours...
When you are done I will remove it from my comments if you want...... 
(Photo by Judy Evans)
(Photo by Judy Evans)1 person likes this
@Kingsley4o (62)
• Lagos, Nigeria
24 Feb 16
Who could be the meaning those flowers!!!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Feb 16
They are beautiful, aren't they? They are wildflowers and grow in sandy arid regions in Australia.
@Kingsley4o (62)
• Lagos, Nigeria
24 Feb 16
I've not seen it before, this my first time of seeing it!!!
1 person likes this
@silvermist (19702)
• India
24 Feb 16
@JudyEv Beautiful!Seeing the flower for the first time.
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@silvermist (19702)
• India
26 Feb 16
@JudyEv Which is the month that the flowers bloom?
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@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Feb 16
@silvermist Depending on the location from September through to maybe early November.
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
24 Feb 16
odd looking flower, but a lovely shade of red!
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@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
27 Feb 16
@JudyEv not now, we gotta figure out the whole photo cropping thing, lol!
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@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
24 Feb 16
A gorgeous, unique, petaled flower @JudyEv .
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
26 Feb 16
@JudyEv Yeah, the bottoms gone but there's still enough to see how pretty it is.
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
24 Feb 16
It's very beautiful. And I love the story behind it.
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@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
26 Feb 16
@JudyEv I bet there are, very interesting.
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@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
24 Feb 16
Again, that flower is new to me. It's very beautiful!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Feb 16
It is quite hard to grow even in Australia but they are now grafting it onto a hardier rootstock.
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
24 Feb 16
@JudyEv It's wonderful what they can do with flowers.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Feb 16
@Jeanniemaries I think I read that it's available in different colours too though why you'd want anything but this I can't imagine.
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
24 Feb 16
Sugh! Someday I want to travel down under.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Feb 16
@JohnRoberts Haha. That's funny. Gosh, imagine it flushing upwards! I don't even want to think about it.
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
24 Feb 16
@JudyEv I know that. I was just employing the common nickname. But don't your toilets flush backwards compared to us?
1 person likes this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
7 Apr 16
Your description is really good. I've seen these growing and they are spectacular. They are basically a ground cover which i wasn't expecting. I saw them on a visit to Uluru (Ayer's Rock) Your photo also shows these flowers off very clearly too.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Apr 16
Thanks. They grew them on traffic islands in Perth one year. They are certainly eye-catching.
@GreatMartin (23672)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
24 Feb 16
Mother Nature never fails to amaze me!!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Feb 16
As Joanne says, this really whacks you in the face doesn't it?
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
24 Feb 16
It must be really beautiful to see a carpet of them!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Feb 16
I haven't managed that yet but I am SO jealous of friends who have.
@DeborahDiane (40294)
• Laguna Woods, California
24 Feb 16
What a beautiful flower and I love the story of the Koori tribe about it. The photo looks great on the new version of the MyLot website, too!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340210)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Feb 16
I really love that the photos look so good. It was the main drawback as far as I was concerned.
@Ladypeace (2028)
• Singapore
24 Feb 16
The flower's a beauty, I didn't know every state had their own floral emblem but it makes sense now.
1 person likes this
