Boronia lanceolata

Boronia lanceolata is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to northern parts of the Northern Territory and Queensland. It is an erect shrub with many branches, elliptic to lance-shaped leaves and white or pink, four-petalled flowers. It is the most common boronia in the Northern Territory.

Boronia lanceolata
B. lanceolata in the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Boronia
Species:
B. lanceolata
Binomial name
Boronia lanceolata
Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium

Description

Boronia lanceolata is an erect shrub with many branches and that usually grows to 250 cm (100 in) high. Its branches and leaves are covered with star-like hairs. The leaves are usually arranged in opposite pairs and are elliptic to lance-shaped, 8–90 mm (0.3–4 in) long and 3–27 mm (0.1–1 in) wide with a petiole 3–16 mm (0.1–0.6 in) long. The flowers are white or pink and arranged in groups of between three and seven in leaf axils on a peduncle 0.5–9 mm (0.02–0.4 in) long. Unlike in other Northern Territory boronias, the petals are longer and wider than the sepals. The four sepals are triangular to egg-shaped, 1–3 mm (0.039–0.12 in) long and 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) wide and do not increase in size as the fruit develops. The four petals are 2–5.5 mm (0.079–0.22 in) long and 1.5–3 mm (0.059–0.12 in) wide and increase in size as the fruit develops. Flowering occurs from May to February. The fruit is a capsule 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long and about 2 mm (0.08 in) wide.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

Boronia lanceolata was first formally described in 1859 by Ferdinand von Mueller who published the description in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae.[5][6] The specific epithet (lanceolata) is a Latin word meaning "spearlike".[7]

Distribution and habitat

This boronia grows in heath, woodland and forest on sandstome between Mornington Island and Westmoreland in Queensland to the Macadam Range and Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory, where it is the most common boronia.[2][3]

Conservation

This boronia is classed as of "least concern" under the Northern Territory Government Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act and the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.[8][9]

References

  1. "Boronia lanceolata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. Duretto, Marco F. (1997). "Taxonomic notes on Boronia species of north-western Australia, including a revision of the Boronia lanuginosa group (Boronia section Valvatae:Rutaceae)". Nuytsia. 11 (3): 341–344. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  3. Duretto, Marco F. (1999). "Systematics of Boronia section Valvatae sensu lato (Rutaceae)" (PDF). Muelleria. 12 (1): 77–78. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  4. "Boronia lanceolata". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  5. "Boronia lanceolata". APNI. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  6. von Mueller, Ferdinand (1859). Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae (Volume 1). Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer. p. 66. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  7. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 460.
  8. "Boronia grandisepala". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  9. "Boronia lanceolata". Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
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