Small-leaf glycine

Glycine microphylla, the small-leaf glycine, is a slender perennial legume native to eastern Australia, where it occurs in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory in open eucalypt woodlands, grasslands and grassy slopes. It produces wiry, twining or trailing stems up to about 1 m long, sparsely hairy and arising from a small woody rootstock. The trifoliolate leaves bear three narrowly elliptic to linear leaflets only 1-3 cm long and 2-6 mm wide, sparsely covered with fine appressed hairs. From spring into autumn the plants bear slender axillary racemes of small pea-like flowers; the standard is pale mauve to pink-purple with a darker centre, only 5-8 mm long. The fruit is a slender, slightly curved pod 2-3 cm long containing several small, smooth, mottled seeds. It is a close wild relative of the cultivated soybean and is of interest in soybean breeding.