Mirbelia dilatata

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Mirbelia dilatata
Mirbelia DSC 3801 (21864434623).jpg
Near Margaret River
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Mirbelia
Species:
M. dilatata
Binomial name
Mirbelia dilatata
Synonyms [1]

Mirbelia dilatataR.Br. var. dilatata

Mirbelia dilatata, commonly known as holly-leaved mirbelia, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, bushy, shrub with prickly leaves and pink, purple or violet flowers.

Contents

Description

Mirbelia dilatata is an erect, bushy, sometimes almost weeping shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.5–3 m (1 ft 8 in – 9 ft 10 in). Its leaves are wedge-shaped, 10–35 mm (0.39–1.38 in) long, with three to seven sharply-pointed lobes 3.2–6.5 mm (0.13–0.26 in) long. The leaves are leathery, the base tapered, sometimes to a short petiole. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils or in racemes on the ends of branches, on a short pedicel and are about 15 mm (0.59 in) wide. The sepals are 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long and joined at the base, the lobes about the same length as each other. The petals are pink, bluish-purple or violet, the standard petal twice as long as the sepals and the wings shorter than the standard. Flowering occurs from September to January and the fruit is an oblong pod about 12 mm (0.47 in) long. [2] [3] [4]

Taxonomy

Mirbelia dilatata was first formally described in 1811 by Robert Brown in Hortus Kewensis . [5] [6] The specific epithet (dilatata) means "widened", referring to the leaves widening upwards. [7]

Distribution and habitat

Holly-leaved mirbelia grows in gravelly and sandy soils or laterite in a range of habitats, including forest, woodland and kwongan. It is found in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia. [2] [4]

Conservation status

This species of pea is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Hovea</i> Genus of legumes

Hovea is a genus of about forty species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, and is endemic to Australia. Plants in this genus are sub-shrubs, shrubs or small trees with simple leaves and purple, blue or mauve flowers with a white centre. The fruit is a pod containing brown to blackish seeds. Species of Hovea occur in all Australian states, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.

<i>Mirbelia</i> Genus of legumes

Mirbelia is a plant genus belonging to the family Fabaceae and is endemic to Australia, occurring in every mainland state except South Australia. Plants in the genus Mirbelia are prickly, perennial shrubs with simple, sometimes sharply-pointed leaves, or the leaves absent. The flowers are arranged singly or in groups in leaf axils or on the ends of branches, the sepals joined at the base with five teeth. The petals are usually red, orange, purplish or bluish and the fruit is an inflated pod.

<i>Pultenaea scabra</i> Species of plant

Pultenaea scabra, commonly known as rough bush-pea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is an erect or spreading shrub with hairy stems, heart-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and yellow and red, pea-like flowers.

<i>Bossiaea cinerea</i> Species of plant

Bossiaea cinerea, commonly known as showy bossiaea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is an erect or spreading shrub with trowel-shaped, triangular, egg-shaped or lance-shaped leaves with a sharply-pointed tip and golden yellow and red to purplish-brown flowers.

<i>Eremophila muelleriana</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremophila muelleriana, commonly known as round-leaved eremophila, is a flowering plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae, and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an open shrub with light-coloured new foliage, broad leaves and deep purple-violet flowers.

Eremophila simulans is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with broad, serrated leaves and violet to purple flowers.

<i>Eremophila spathulata</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremophila spathulata, commonly known as spoon-leaved eremophila, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub with many tangled branches, stiff, grey, spoon-shaped leaves, reddish-purple sepals and blue, pink or violet petals.

<i>Quoya dilatata</i> Species of flowering plant

Quoya dilatata is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a low, spreading shrub with its branches and leaves densely covered with a layer of white, woolly hairs. The leaves are wrinkled or crinkly and the tube-shaped flowers are orange-red and hairy on the outside.

<i>Quoya loxocarpa</i> Species of flowering plant

Quoya loxocarpa is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia and the Northern Territory. It is an open shrub with many spindly tangled branches. The leaves are oblong and woolly when young and the flowers are whitish pink with purple spots inside and are surrounded by woolly sepals.

<i>Bossiaea linophylla</i> Species of legume

Bossiaea linophylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a spreading shrub with linear to oblong or egg-shaped leaves, and bright yellow to orange or apricot-coloured and red flowers.

<i>Pultenaea heterochila</i> Species of flowering plant

Pultenaea heterochila is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is an erect, low-lying or protrate shrub with hairy leaves and yellow and red flowers.

<i>Bossiaea dentata</i> Species of flowering plant

Bossiaea dentata is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is an erect, sometimes prostrate shrub with variably-shaped leaves and greenish-yellow or pink to burgundy-coloured flowers.

<i>Gompholobium marginatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Gompholobium marginatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prostrate or low, spreading shrub with palmate leaves and uniformly yellow, pea-like flowers.

<i>Gompholobium polymorphum</i> Species of flowering plant

Gompholobium polymorphum is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a bushy, straggling shrub or climber with cylindrical leaves with longitudinal grooves and yellow, red or orange, pea-like flowers with yellow, red or orange marks.

<i>Bossiaea rufa</i> Species of legume

Bossiaea rufa is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a loose, many-branched shrub with elliptic to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and deep yellow and red flowers.

<i>Gompholobium venustum</i> Species of flowering plant

Gompholobium venustum, commonly known as handsome wedge-pea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender, erect or sprawling shrub with pinnate leaves with fifteen to nineteen leaflets, and yellow or pink, pea-like flowers.

Pultenaea vestita, commonly known as feather bush-pea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-western continental Australia. It is an erect to prostrate, sometimes mat-forming shrub with elliptic to linear or lance-shaped leaves, and yellow and red, pea-like flowers.

<i>Leucopogon alternifolius</i> Species of plant

Leucopogon alternifolius is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae and is endemic to south of Western Australia. It is a low, sprawling shrub with thin branchlets, egg-shaped leaves with a heart-shaped, stem-clasping base, and white or pale pink flowers arranged in up to twenty groups along the flowering branchlets.

Mirbelia ferricola is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to inland parts of the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with leaves reduced to small scales, and red and yellow flowers arranged in racemes at the ends of the branches.

<i>Mirbelia floribunda</i> Species of plant

Mirbelia floribunda, commonly known as purple mirbelia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, slender or straggling, much-branched shrub with narrowly linear leaves and bluish-purple flowers.

References

  1. 1 2 "Mirbelia dilatata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Mirbelia dilatata". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1864). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 2. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 33. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  4. 1 2 Corrick, Margaret; Fuhrer, Bruce (2009). Wildflowers of Southern Western Australia (3rd ed.). Dural, N.S.W.: Rosenberg Publishing. p. 67. ISBN   9781877058844.
  5. "Mirbelia dilatata". APNI. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  6. Brown, R. (1811). Aiton, W.T. (ed.). "Mirbelia". Hortus Kewensis (2 ed.). 3: 21. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  7. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 183. ISBN   9780958034180.