Genista (broom) is a genus of shrubs from Europe and the Mediterranean, brought to Australia as ornamentals. G. canariensis (Canary broom) is an upright shrub with bright green trefoil leaves and slightly drooping branches. Bright yellow flowers are produced in spring. Naturalised along roadsides and on wasteland in the wetter south-west from Perth to Albany.

Genista canariensis , RR

G. linifolia (flaxleaf broom) forms a dense rounded shrub to 2m. The trefoil leaves have narrow leaflets, the undersurface covered with silky hairs. The bright yellow flowers are produced in compact terminal clusters in late spring. Naturalised along roadsides and on wasteland from Muchea to Albany. Native to the Mediterranean. Other species of broom also occur, naturalised along roadsides. Gliricidia sepium (mother of cocoa) is a tree to 4m tall, with pinnate leaves up to 15cm long. The flowers are 2.5cm long, mauve with a yellow centre, followed by flat pods 1.5x10cm. The seeds are reputed to be toxic. A garden escape, naturalised in the townsite creek on Koolan Island. Native to the Americas and the West Indies.

G. linifolia , GK

Indigoferaglandulosa is an erect annual or short lived perennial, to 75cm tall. It has three leaflets, to 65mm long. The flowers are pink and produced in summer. Found on agricultural land around Kununurra. Native to Asia from India to Indonesia. I. oblongifolia is an upright, rounded, greyish-green shrub to 1.3m. The leaves are trifoliate with oblong leaflets. Racemes of small pink flowers are produced in April. Abundant on roadsides in Port Hedland and scattered on an old road near Mandora. Native to North Africa and India. There are many native Indigofera spp., consult a specialist text for exact identification.

Genista sp., PH

Lathyrus is a genus mostly of climbing herbs, often with winged stems. The leaves have two leaflets and the leaf axis is prolonged into tendrils, which are used for climbing. The flowers grow from the leaf axils, usually in racemes. L. latifolius (was L. sylvestris) is a rampant perennial climber with winged stems and showy, purple, pink or white sweet-pea like flowers (2cm in size). Found on roadsides and in woodlands in the wetter south-west from Dwellingup to Pemberton. Native to Europe. L. tingitanus (Tangier pea) is an annual, but otherwise similar to the preceding species, with spikes of pink or bright cerise flowers, 3cm in size. It is a garden escape found between Perth and Albany, and is increasing rapidly on roadsides and other disturbed ground in the Darling Range near Perth, creating a fire hazard when it dies back in summer. Native to the western Mediterranean and the Azores.

Lathyrus tingitanus, PH

Lotus is a cosmopolitan genus. The leaves have five leaflets, three at the top and two much lower down the stalk. The three species naturalised in Western Australia all have yellow flowers, produced in summer, and are native to Europe. L. angustissimus (slender birdsfoot trefoil) and L. suaveolens (hairy birdsfoot trefoil) are similar prostrate annuals, with one to four flowers (0.4-0.9cm in size) together at the top of a short stalk in the leaf axils. Apart from hairiness, they are best distinguished by the length of their pods. The pods of L. angustissima are shorter, up to 1.4cm, while those of L. suaevolens are 2-3cm long. Both are widespread weeds of gardens, paddocks, roadsides and other disturbed, often winter-wet, areas from Geraldton to Esperance.

Lotus angustissimus , PH

L. uliginosus (greater birdsfoot trefoil) has flowers in groups of up to 15; at 0.9-1.5cm they are larger than the previous two species. The pod is 1.5-3.5cm long. Grows in disturbed and cultivated areas, often winter-wet, from Perth to Albany.

L. uliginosus, PH

Lupinus (lupins) are widely cultivated and four species are naturalised in Western Australia, often on roadsides or sandy bushland adjoining paddocks. All are annual, flower in spring and have leaves divided into a number of finger-like leaflets. L. albus (white lupin) has white flowers, and is occasional on the Swan Coastal Plain and cropping belt. L. angustifolius (narrowleaf lupin) has blue flowers on a short main stalk, and five to nine leaflets, each up to 6mm wide. It is a weed of road verges and woodlands from Geraldton to Albany.

Lupinus cosentinii , GK

L. cosentinii (Western Australian blue lupin) has blue flowers in whorls on a long main stalk, and 7 to 13 leaflets, up to 1.5cm wide. A widespread and serious weed of roadsides, woodlands and heath from Carnarvon to Esperance. L. luteus has yellow flowers, and can be found on roadsides and wasteland between Perth and Albany. All originate in the Mediterranean.

L. luteus, PH

Macroptilium atropurpureum (siratro) is a trailing perennial with purplish-black flowers on long stalks arising from the leaf axils, produced in autumn. It has trefoil leaves, the lower two usually lobed. Widely cultivated in the tropics for fodder and has naturalised along drains and creeklines in the Kimberley, especially around LakeKununurra, and occasionally elsewhere, such as on limestone near Leeman.

Macroptilium atropurpureum , GK

M. lathyroides (phasey bean) is an erect or trailing annual to 1.2m. The leaflets are narrowly elliptic, with the pink to greenish-cream flowers in axilliary sprays. Cultivated for fodder and naturalised in the eastern Kimberley. It is a bad weed in the Ord River Irrigation Area, since it is difficult to kill with herbicides. Both native to tropical America.

M. lathyroides , RR