Boronia penicillata

Boronia penicillata is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a low, spreading shrub with pinnate leaves and white flowers with four petals and eight stamens.

Boronia penicillata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Boronia
Species:
B. penicillata
Binomial name
Boronia penicillata
Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium

Description

Boronia penicillata is a spreading shrub that grows to a height of 30 cm (10 in). The leaves are sessile and pinnate with three or five leaflets, each leaflet linear to narrow wedge-shaped and 5–12 mm (0.2–0.5 in) long. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on a pedicel 1–2 mm (0.04–0.08 in) long. The four sepals are egg-shaped, 1.5–2 mm (0.059–0.079 in) long and the four petals are white and 2–3.5 mm (0.079–0.14 in) long. The eight stamens are slightly hairy and there is a very short point on the end of the anthers. Flowering occurs mainly from October to November.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

Boronia penicillata was first formally described in 1863 by George Bentham from a specimen collected by James Drummond and the description was published in Flora Australiensis.[4][5] The specific epithet (penicillata) is derived from the Latin word penicillum meaning "little tail", "painter's brush" or "tuft".[6]

Distribution and habitat

This boronia grows in sand and has a disjunct distribution between Toodyay and the Fitzgerald River.[2]

Conservation

Boronia penicillata is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.[3]

References
  1. "Boronia penicillata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  2. Duretto, Marco F.; Wilson, Paul G.; Ladiges, Pauline Y. "Boronia penicillata". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  3. "Boronia penicillata". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  4. "Boronia penicillata". APNI. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  5. Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1863). Flora Australiensis. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 322. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  6. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 173.
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