Sturt's desert pea
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Named after Charles Sturt (1795–1869), British officer and explorer, who recorded seeing large quantities of the flowers while exploring central Australia in 1844.
Noun[edit]
Sturt's desert pea (plural Sturt's desert peas)
- A wildflower endemic to Australia, Swainsona formosa, known for its distinctive blood-red leaflike flowers, each with a bulbous black centre.
- 2022 September 23, Besha Rodell, “Australian Floral Designs That, at Long Last, Embrace Australian Flora”, in The New York Times Style Magazine[1]:
- Innovative New York City floral artists such as Emily Thompson have long valued Australian plants, including spiky banksia, spidery Grevillea and Swainsona formosa — also known as Strut’s desert pea,[sic] which resembles a multieyed visitor from another galaxy — but local designers were raised to regard native species as mundane and overly rustic.