Mirbelia ovata Meisn.

Scientific Description

Prostrate,spreading or scrambling, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems terete, not spiny, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, simple, whorled, not continuous with stem, 4-15 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, hairy, with gland-tipped hairs, flat with recurved margins; margins entire; tubercles absent; pustules or glands present. Stipules present but early deciduous ( only visible on youngest leaves ). Pedicel present, 2.5-3 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles present and persistent, 2.8 mm long, hairy, not striate. Calyx 7.5-10 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 9.5-14.5 mm long, multicoloured, mostly yellow, red or purple, with some yellow, red or purple spots, streaks or blotches; claws absent; standard 9-11.5 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 7-11 mm long, not auriculate, keel 8.5 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 9 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments free (or united at the very base), 5.5-7.3 mm long. Ovary hairy or glandular; style 9.5-10 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 August, September and October. Occurs in the South-West Botanical Province, in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Warren and Esperance IBRA regions.