Mirbelia oxylobioides is an erect 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...

. It 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...

.

Description

The species grows to 3 metres in height and has stems covered with soft downy hairs. The pointed leaves are narrow and ovate and arranged in pairs. They are 2 to 10 mm long and 1 to 4 mm wide. The pea flowers are orange-yellow with red markings and are usually produced between October and January in the species native range. These are followed by down-covered brown pods.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by botanist Ferdinand von Mueller

Ferdinand von Mueller

Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...

 in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae

Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae

Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae is a series of papers authored by the Victorian Government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in which he published many of his approximately 2000 descriptions of new taxa of Australian plants. The papers were issued in 94 parts between 1858 and 1882 and published in...

in 1861.

Distribution

The species occurs in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, 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....

 and Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

. In the latter state, it is only found in the Heathy Hills Nature Reserve near Elderslie where it is threatened by the effects of drought and the invasion of gorse. Consequently, it is classified as "vulnerable" under Tasmania's Threatened Species Protection Act.