Mirbelia ferricola R.Butcher

Scientific Description

Erect, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems angular, not spiny, glabrous; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades absent or apparently so (reduced to scales), alternate, not continuous with stem, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent, 1-2.6; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present but early deciduous ( only visible on youngest leaves ). Bracteoles present and persistent. Calyx 4.5-6.5 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 10.5-12.5 mm long, uniformly coloured, yellow; claws absent; standard 10.5-11 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 8-8.6 mm long, not auriculate, keel 6.5-9.3 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.6-1 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments free (or united at the very base), 5.2-6 mm long. Ovary hairy or glandular; style 4.5-5.5 mm long, hairy or glandular towards the base, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), 10 mm long, 4-6 mm wide, stipitate, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, glabrous, not beaked. Flowers in August, September and October. Occurs in the Eremaean and South-West Botanical Province, in the Coolgardie and Avon Wheatbelt IBRA regions. Conservation Code Priority Three (P3).