Gastrolobium lehmannii or Cranbrook Pea is a vulnerable shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 in the family Fabaceae

Fabaceae

The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...

 which is endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 to an area of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

Description

It is an erect domed shrub, growing to 1.5 m. high with soft hairy branches and oblong leaves. The pea flowers are orange, yellow and red

It is not known whether this species shares the toxic properties of many other members of the genus Gastrolobium

Gastrolobium

Gastrolobium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. There are over 100 species in this genus, and all but two are native to the south west region of Western Australia....

.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described in 1844 by botanist Carl Meissner

Carl Meissner

Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner was a Swiss botanist.Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 year career he was Professor of Botany at University of Basel...

. In 1995, botanist Michael Crisp placed the species in the genus Nemcia. In 2002, Chandler et al. - returned it to the Gastrolobium.

Distribution

First collected by James Drummond (botanist)

James Drummond (botanist)

James Drummond was a botanist and naturalist who was an early settler in Western Australia.-Early life:...

 in 1841, and later by Charles Gardner

Charles Gardner

Charles Austin Gardner was a Western Australian botanist.Born in Lancaster, England on 6 January 1896, he emigrated to Western Australia with his family in 1909....

 in 1919 between Cranbrook

Cranbrook, Western Australia

Cranbrook is a small town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia between Katanning, Kojonup and Mount Barker, situated 320km south of Perth. It is billed as "The Gateway to the Stirlings", referring to the nearby Stirling Range National Park...

 and the Stirling Ranges and from the Blackwood River

Blackwood River

The Blackwood River is a major river and catchment in the South West of Western Australia.The river begins at the junction of Arthur River and Balgarup River near Quelarup and travels in a south westerly direction through the town of Bridgetown then through Nannup until it discharges into the...

area.

Was presumed to be extinct but found again in 2000 to 2002. Programmes have been initiated to conserve the remaining plants