Mirbelia sp. Ternata (M.D. Crisp & L.G. Cook MDC 9267)

Scientific Description

Prostrate,spreading or scrambling, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems terete, spiny at least in part, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades absent or apparently so (reduced to scales), simple, alternate, not continuous with stem, 4-6 mm long, 1.3-2.5 mm wide, glabrous, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present but early deciduous ( only visible on youngest leaves ). Pedicel present, 2.5-4 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles present and persistent. Calyx 3.5-4 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 7-9 mm long, multicoloured, mostly yellow or red, with some yellow or red spots, streaks or blotches; claws absent; standard 6.5-9 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 6-7 mm long, not auriculate, keel 4.5-5 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.3-0.4 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 hairy or glandular; style 3.5-4 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 September. Occurs in the South-West Botanical Province, in the Avon Wheatbelt IBRA regions. Conservation Code Priority One (P1).