58 
MIRBELIA speciosa. 
: Showy Mirbelia. 
DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Nat. ord. Leguminos# or Fasace&, § Paprnionacex. 
MIRBELIA. Botanical Register, vol. 12. fol. 1041. 
M. speciosa ; ramis pubescentibus, foliis sparsis s. ternatim verticillatis linea- 
tibus margine revolutis glabris apice uncinulatis, floribus axillaribus bre- 
vitér pedicellatis, calycibus sericeis, ovario pluri-ovulato. 
M. speciosa. Sieb. pl. exsicc. nov. holl. 367. DeCand. prodr. 2. 114. 
Frutex ramosus, ramulis sericeis tetragonis. Folia linearia, viz lucida, 
glabra, apiculata, pilis quibusdam adpressis in costa et margine ; ternatim 
verticillata. Flores azillares, solitarii, pedicellati. Calyx sericeus, dentibus 
lateralibus acuminatis. Corolla violacea vevilli medio lutea. Ovarium glabrum, 
ovulis 10. 
A handsome New Holland shrub, in its native country 
forming a scrubby bush, with thinly scattered flowers ; but 
in cultivation becoming much more twiggy, with interrupted 
racemes of flowers. The latter are of bright but purple 
violet; with a yellow spot in the centre of the vexillum. 
The accompanying drawing was made in the Nursery of 
Messrs. Loddiges in March last. Fig. 1. represents a section 
of the ovary, shewing the number of the ovules. 
There appears to be little difference between this and 
M. floribunda, except in the very short lucid retuse leaves, 
deeper flowers, and more hairy calyxes and branches of the 
latter ; which is a Swan River shrub, of greater beauty than 
this, 
This shrub, grows more freely than many of the genus to 
which it belongs, and requires, like most of the less robust 
plants belonging to Australia, to be grown in a light sandy 
soil which is rather poor and well drained ; for if the soil is 
