Hardenbergia is a small genus of three species of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, order Fabales. The genus is endemic to Australia, with species distributed across all Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory.
Plants in the genus are climbing or trailing herbs or subshrubs. Leaves are arranged alternately along the stems and are pinnate, bearing one, three, or five leaflets with stipules at the base and stipellae at the base of the leaflets. Flowers are arranged in pairs or small clusters in leaf axils and are medium-sized, violet, white, or pinkish. The standard petal is roughly circular with a yellowish or greenish centre; the wings are sickle-shaped and longer than the keel. Nine of the lower stamens are fused into an open sheath and the style is thread-like. The fruit is an oblong pod.
The genus was first formally described in 1837 by George Bentham in Stephan Endlicher's Enumeratio plantarum. It was named in honour of Franziska, Countess von Hardenberg, a patron of botany and sister of Baron von Huegel, who visited Australia in 1833.
Three species are accepted by the Australian Plant Census: Hardenbergia comptoniana, confined to Western Australia; Hardenbergia perbrevidens, found in Queensland; and Hardenbergia violacea, the most widespread species, occurring across South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, and Tasmania. Hardenbergia violacea is commonly known as false sarsaparilla, purple coral pea, or waraburra and is widely cultivated as an ornamental.
Etymology
The genus name Hardenbergia commemorates Franziska, Countess von Hardenberg, an 18th–19th century patron of botany and sister of Baron Carl von Huegel, the Austrian botanist who collected plants in southwestern Australia in 1833. The genus was formally established by George Bentham in 1837.
Distribution
Hardenbergia is endemic to Australia. The three species collectively range across all Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory: Hardenbergia comptoniana is restricted to Western Australia, Hardenbergia perbrevidens to Queensland, and the wide-ranging Hardenbergia violacea occurs in South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, and Tasmania.
Cultivation
Hardenbergia violacea and Hardenbergia comptoniana are widely grown as ornamental climbers and ground covers in Australian gardens, valued for their profuse violet to pink pea-flowers in late winter and spring. They tolerate a range of soils and aspects and are commonly used for fences, trellises, and banks.
