About Mirbelia dilatata R.Br.
Mirbelia dilatata, also commonly known as holly-leaved mirbelia, is an erect, bushy shrub that is sometimes almost weeping in growth habit. It typically reaches a height of 0.5 to 3 meters (1 foot 8 inches to 9 feet 10 inches). Its leaves are wedge-shaped and leathery, measuring 10 to 35 millimeters (0.39 to 1.38 inches) long. Each leaf has three to seven sharply-pointed lobes, which are 3.2 to 6.5 millimeters (0.13 to 0.26 inches) long. The base of each leaf tapers, and sometimes tapers all the way to a short petiole. Flowers are arranged either singly in leaf axils or in racemes at the ends of branches, borne on a short pedicel, and are approximately 15 millimeters (0.59 inches) wide. The sepals are 4 to 5 millimeters (0.16 to 0.20 inches) long, joined at the base, with lobes that are all roughly equal in length. The petals are pink, bluish-purple, or violet. The standard petal is twice as long as the sepals, and the wing petals are shorter than the standard. Flowering occurs between September and January, and the fruit is an oblong pod about 12 millimeters (0.47 inches) long. This species grows in gravelly soil, sandy soil, or laterite across a range of habitats, including forest, woodland, and kwongan. It occurs in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain, and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.
