Mirbelia rubiifolia
Encyclopedia
Mirbelia rubiifolia is a small and spreading shrub in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Fabaceae
Fabaceae
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...

. Heath Mirbelia is endemic to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It is found in sclerophyll
Sclerophyll
Sclerophyll is the term for a type of vegetation that has hard leaves and short internodes . The word comes from the Greek sclero and phyllon ....

 forest and woodlands, as well as heath on sandy soils on the coast or tablelands, often in areas liable to inundation. Distribution is from Croajingolong National Park
Croajingolong National Park
Croajingolong is a coastal national park in Victoria, Australia, 427 kilometres east of Melbourne.The name is thought to derive from the aboriginal word Krowathunkooloong, the name of the tribe inhabiting that area of Victoria.-Description:...

 in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 northward to Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

.

Mirbelia rubiifolia was first described as Pultenaea rubiaefolia by Henry Charles Andrews
Henry Charles Andrews
Henry Charles Andrews , was an English botanist, botanical artist and engraver.He lived in Knightsbridge and was married to the daughter of John Kennedy of Hammersmith, a nurseryman who assisted Andrews in the descriptions of the plants he illustrated.He was an accomplished and unusual botanical...

 in 1804. It had been taken to England and cultivated in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...

 in 1792. James Edward Smith
James Edward Smith
Sir James Edward Smith was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society.Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He displayed a precocious interest in the natural world...

 gave it the name of Mirbelia reticulata in 1805 but the name was ruled illegal, but it was later placed in that genus (and gaining its current name in the process) by Scottish botanist George Don
George Don
George Don was a Scottish botanist.George Don was born at Doo Hillock, Forfar, Angus, Scotland on 29 April 1797. His father, also named George Don, was Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1802 and his mother was Caroline Clementina Stuart. George was the elder brother of David...

 in 1832. Its species name is derived from the resemblance of its leaves to those of the genus Rubus
Rubus
Rubus is a large genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae. Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of these plants have woody stems with prickles like roses; spines, bristles, and gland-tipped hairs are...

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A ground hugging plant, Mirbelia rubiifolia seldom reaches more than 30 cm (12 in) tall. The pointed leaves are arranged in threes, mostly 1 to 2.5 cm (0.4-1 in) long and 2 to 4 mm wide. The leaves are made conspicuous by the prominent leaf veins on the upper surface. Attractive purple or pink flowers form in spring between September to December. Rare occurrences of white flowers have been recorded. The fruit is an egg-shaped pod, around 5 mm long.

Mirbelia rubiifolia is rarely cultivated, but adapts well to a part-shaded spot in a subtropical garden. Supplementary water in dry spells is beneficial. It can be an untidy and scrambling shrub which can look better with pruning.
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