The flowers are arranged singly or in groups in leaf axils or on the ends of branches, the sepals joined at the base with five teeth.

The petals are usually red, orange, purplish or bluish and the fruit is an inflated pod.

Plants in the genus Mirbelia are prickly shrubs with spiny branchlets or sharply-pointed leaves.

The leaves are simple with the edges turned down or rolled under, sometimes absent, or sometimes with small stipules at the base.

[7] The following is a list of species of Mirbelia accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at June 2022:[8]