Description

''Mirbelia baueri'' is an erect or prostrate, sometimes mat-forming shrub that typically grows to a height of and has softly-hairy stems. Its leaves are linear, long, about wide and sharply-pointed with the edges rolled under. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils, each flower on a short

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are softly-hairy, long and joined at the base, the lobes shorter than the sepal tube. The petals are long, orange or yellow and purple. Flowering occurs in October and November, and the fruit is an oval

pod Pod or POD may refer to: Biology * Pod (fruit), a type of fruit of a flowering plant * Husk or pod of a legume * Pod of whales or other marine mammals * "-pod", a suffix meaning "foot" used in taxonomy Electronics and computing * Proper ort ...

about long with a pointed end.

Taxonomy

This pea was first formally described in 1837 by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...

, who gave it the name ''Chorizema baueri'' in ''Commentationes de Leguminosarum Generibus'', based on specimens collected by

Ferdinand Bauer Ferdinand Lucas Bauer (20 January 1760 – 17 March 1826) was an Austrian botanical illustrator who travelled on Matthew Flinders' expedition to Australia. Biography Early life and career Bauer was born in Feldsberg in 1760, the youngest son of ...

. In 1958,

Joy Thompson Joy Thompson (born Joy Gardiner-Garden, 1923, died 2018) was an Australian botanist. Her main research areas were taxonomy and Myrtaceae. Life & Career Thompson's university studies occurred during the second world war and in university vacatio ...

changed the name to ''Mirbelia baueri'' in the ''

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales ( Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. History The Society suc ...

''. In 1938,

William Blakely William Faris Blakely (November 1875 – 1 September 1941) was an Australian botanist and collector. From 1913 to 1940 he worked in the National Herbarium of New South Wales, working with Joseph Maiden on ''Eucalyptus'', Maiden named a ''red g ...

described ''Mirbelia jeanae'' and wrote "Named in honour of Miss Jean Buckingham, junior member of the Australian Naturalists' Society of New South Wales, who discovered this very pretty species on a rocky sandstone plateau in Gold Gully, 2 miles south-east of Penrose railway station, October 2, 1938". Ronald Melville advised Joy Thompson that ''M. jeanae'' "appeared to be

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

with ''M. baueri'', and it is listed as such by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

Distribution and habitat

''Mirbelia baueri'' grows at higher altitude in exposed

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

s in rocky areas on sandy soils. It mainly occurs from the Blue Mountains to

Nerriga Nerriga is a small village in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council. It is situated at the edge of Morton National Park, on the Braidwood - Nowra road. The population of Nerriga and the ...

, but is also found on the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and Central coasts.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13933687 Mirbelioids baueri Fabales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Taxa named by George Bentham Plants described in 1937