Mirbelia pungens

Mirbelia pungens, commonly known as prickly mirbelia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is an erect or prostrate shrub with sharply-pointed linear leaves and orange-red flowers with blue or purple markings.

Description
Mirbelia pungens is an erect or prostrate shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.3–0.5 m, and has softly-hairy stems. Its leaves are linear and sharply pointed, mostly 8–15 mm long, about 1 mm wide on a petiole up to 0.5 mm long. The flowers are arranged singly or in groups of up to four in leaf axils on a peduncle up to about 1 mm long. The sepals are 2.5–4.0 mm long, softly-hairy and joined at the base, the lobes shorter than the sepal tube. The standard petal is orange-red with blue or purple markings, the keel purplish and nearly as long as the wings. Flowering occurs from September to November and the fruit is an oval pod about 3 mm long.

Taxonomy
Mirbelia pungens was first formally described in 1832 by George Don in A General History of Dichlamydeous Plants from an unpublished manuscript by Allan Cunningham. The specific epithet (pungens) means "ending in a sharp, hard point".

Distribution and habitat
This mirbelia grows in stony areas in heath and is widespread in south-eastern Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and in the far north-east of Victoria.

Conservation status
Mirbelia pungens is listed as "vulnerable in Victoria" on the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment's Advisory List of Rare Or Threatened Plants In Victoria.