Boronia crenulata

Boronia crenulata, commonly known as aniseed boronia, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an open-branched shrub, often trailing between other plants, has strap-like leaves and pink to purple-red, four-petalled flowers in winter and autumn.

Aniseed boronia
Boronia crenulata leaves and flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Boronia
Species:
B. crenulata
Binomial name
Boronia crenulata
Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium

Description

Boronia crenulata is a shrub which grows to a height of about 0.25–1.2 m (0.8–4 ft) and has weak, thin stems which often trail between other plants. The leaves are variable in shape, sometimes even on one plant, but in general are about 20 mm (0.8 in) long and 2 mm (0.08 in) wide, strap-like or egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base. There are usually a few long soft hairs on the leaves and the margins of the leaves usually have a few small teeth.[2][3][4]

The flowers are pink to reddish and are scattered singly or in small groups in leaf axils or at the ends of the stems. The flowers are about 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter on a stalk 4 mm (0.2 in) long. The sepals are egg-shaped to triangular, 1.5–2 mm (0.06–0.08 in) long and usually have a sharp, pointed tip. There are four glabrous petals and eight stamens.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

Boronia crenulata was first formally described in 1807 by James Edward Smith and the description was published in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London.[5][6] The specific epithet (crenulata) is derived from the Latin word crena meaning "a notch or rounded projection"[7] referring to the teeth on the leaf margins.[3]

In 1998, Paul G. Wilson described four subspecies and two varieties in the journal Nuytsia and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:[8]

  • Boronia crenulata subsp. crenulata;[9]
  • Boronia crenulata var. angustifolia;[10]
  • Boronia crenulata var. crenulata;[11]
  • Boronia crenulata subsp. obtusa;[12]
  • Boronia crenulata subsp. pubescens;[13]
  • Boronia crenulata subsp. viminea.[14]

Distribution and habitat

This boronia occurs in a broad area of the south-west of Western Australia in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographic regions. It grows in a range of soils, from clay to limestone and from swampy coastal areas to the margins of salt lakes and rocky outcrops.[4]

Conservation

Boronia crenulata is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.[4]

References
  1. "Boronia crenulata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  2. Wilson, Paul G. (1998). "New names and new taxa in the genus Boronia (Rutaceae) from Western Australia, with notes on seed characters". Nuytsia. 12 (1): 123–126.
  3. Marshall, John; Wilson, Margaret; Tullis, Brian (1990). Wildflowers of the West Coast Hills Region : the plants and flowers of the Darling Scarp and Range in the Kalamunda Shire, the backdrop to Perth, Western Australia (2002 (revised) ed.). Western Australia: Quality Publishing Australia. p. 64. ISBN 1875737243.
  4. "Boronia crenulata". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  5. "Boronia crenulata". APNI. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  6. Smith, James Edward (1807). "Characters of Three New Species of Boronia". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 8 (28): 284. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  7. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 562.
  8. Wilson, Paul G. (1998). "New names and new taxa in the genus Boronia (Rutaceae) from Western Australia, with notes of seed characters". Nuytsia. 12 (1): 123–126. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  9. "Boronia crenulata subsp. crenulata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  10. "Boronia crenulata var. angustifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  11. "Boronia crenulata var. crenulata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  12. "Boronia crenulata subsp. obtusa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  13. "Boronia crenulata subsp. pubescens". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  14. "Boronia crenulata subsp. viminea". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
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