Gastrolobium bilobum

Heart-leaved Poison
An illustration from Curtis's Botanical Magazine (1818).
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Gastrolobium
Species: G. bilobum
Binomial name
Gastrolobium bilobum
R.Br.

Gastrolobium bilobum, commonly known as Heart-leaved Poison, is a bushy shrub which is endemic to south west Western Australia. The species is a member of the family Fabaceae and is probably the most toxic species in the genus Gastrolobium, containing high levels of monofluroacetic acid.

The species grows to a height of up to 4 metres. Between late winter and early summer (August to December in Australia) it produces yellow-orange pea-flowers with a central yellow area encircled by a band of red, and a maroon keel. The leaves are cuneiform, obovate or elliptic.

The species was first formally described by botanist Robert Brown and published in Hortus Kew in 1811.

The vernacular name has been common for over 140 years, and is inappropriate due the leaves being wedge shaped, not heart shaped as the name suggests.

It occurs in the south-west of the state, usually on granite-based soils on peaks and outcrops as well as along rivers. It is associated with karri and marri forest as well as mallee and heathland.

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Further reading


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