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Mirbelia spinosa Benth.

Reference
Fl.Austral. 2:36-37 (1864)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Erect or ascending, spiny shrub, 0.2-1.5 m high. Fl. yellow & orange & red/brown, Jun to Nov. Sandy soils. Sandplains, sandhills, rocky hills, lateritic ridges, granite rocks.

Grazyna Paczkowska, Descriptive Catalogue, 25 July 1996
Image

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, whorled, not continuous with stem, 2.5-4 mm long, 0.8-1.2 mm wide, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with recurved margins; margins entire; tubercles absent; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present but early deciduous ( only visible on youngest leaves ). Pedicel present, 1.5-2 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles present and persistent, 2-3 mm long, hairy, not striate. Calyx 7-8 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 9-15 mm long, multicoloured, mostly yellow, red, orange or brown, with some yellow, red, orange or brown spots, streaks or blotches; claws absent; standard 8.2-12.5 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 6.5-9.5 mm long, not auriculate, keel 4-6.4 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.4-0.5 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments free (or united at the very base), 3.5-4 mm long. Ovary stipitate, glabrous; style 4.2-5 mm long, glabrous, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), stipitate, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, not beaked. Flowers in June, July, August, September, October and November. Occurs in the Eremaean and South-West Botanical Province, in the Carnarvon, Murchison, Geraldton Sandplains, Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Esperance and Swan Coastal Plain IBRA regions.

C. Hollister and K.R. Thiele, 24 October 2023

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Avon Wheatbelt, Carnarvon, Coolgardie, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Murchison, Swan Coastal Plain.
IBRA Subregions
Dandaragan Plateau, Eastern Murchison, Fitzgerald, Geraldton Hills, Katanning, Lesueur Sandplain, Merredin, Northern Jarrah Forest, Perth, Southern Cross, Southern Jarrah Forest, Western Mallee, Western Murchison, Wooramel.
IMCRA Regions
Central West Coast.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Armadale, Beverley, Boddington, Boyup Brook, Bridgetown-Greenbushes, Bruce Rock, Canning, Carnamah, Chapman Valley, Coorow, Corrigin, Dandaragan, Dumbleyung, Gingin, Gosnells, Greater Geraldton, Irwin, Kalamunda, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Kellerberrin, Kulin, Lake Grace, Meekatharra, Merredin, Mingenew, Moora, Mundaring, Murchison, Murray, Narrogin, Northam, Northampton, Nungarin, Perenjori, Ravensthorpe, Serpentine-Jarrahdale, Shark Bay, Swan, Tammin, Three Springs, Upper Gascoyne, Victoria Plains, Wandering, Wanneroo, West Arthur, Wickepin, Williams, Wongan-Ballidu, Woodanilling, Yalgoo, Yilgarn, York.