Mirbelia dilatata R.Br.
Holly-leaved Mirbelia

Scientific Description

Erect, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems terete, spiny at least in part, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, simple, alternate, continuous with stem, 12-25 mm long, 10-22 mm wide, glabrous, flat with flat margins; margins dentate; tubercles absent; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present but early deciduous ( only visible on youngest leaves ). Pedicel present, 3.5-6.5 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles present and persistent. Calyx 4.5-6 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 12.5-15.5 mm long, multicoloured, mostly pink or purple, with some pink or purple spots, streaks or blotches; claws absent; standard 11-12.5 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 11-13 mm long, not auriculate, keel 10-12 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.5-0.7 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments free (or united at the very base), 8-10 mm long. Ovary hairy or glandular; style 11-11.5 mm long, hairy or glandular towards the base, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), stipitate, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, not beaked. Flowers in January, September, October, November and December. Occurs in the South-West Botanical Province, in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Warren, Esperance and Swan Coastal Plain IBRA regions.