Boronia microphylla

small-leaved boronia
Boronia microphylla leaves and flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Boronia
Species: B. microphylla
Binomial name
Boronia microphylla
Sieber ex Rchb.[1]

Boronia microphylla, commonly known as small-leaved boronia, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a shrub with pinnate leaves with small leaflets and pink, four-petalled flowers.

Description

Boronia microphylla is a shrub which grows to a height of 0.3–1.0 m (1–3 ft). Its youngest branches are covered with small, warty glands and scattered bristly hairs. It has pinnate leaves with 5 to 15 leaflets on a rachis 3–16 mm (0.1–0.6 in) long and a petiole 2–8 mm (0.08–0.3 in) long. The leaflets are spatula-shaped to wedge-shaped, 3–8 mm (0.1–0.3 in) long, 1–4 mm (0.04–0.2 in) wide and glabrous.[2][3]

The flowers are pink to purplish and are arranged mostly in the upper leaf axils in groups of up to five on a stalk 3–10 mm (0.1–0.4 in) long. The four petals are 5–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long and glabrous. Flowering occurs from October to February.[2][3]

Boronia microphylla in the Torrington State Conservation Area

Taxonomy and naming

Boronia microphylla was first formally described in 1825 by Franz Sieber and the description was published in Ludwig Reichenbach's Iconographia Botanica Exotica.[1][4] The specific epithet (microphylla) is derived from the Ancient Greek words mikros meaning "little"[5]:488 and phyllon meaning "leaf".[5]:466

Distribution and habitat

This boronia grows in heath and forest in coastal areas north from Moruya, New South Wales and inland as far as the Great Dividing Range.[2][6]

Use in horticulture

Boronias are not usually easy to grow in the garden, but this species is one of the hardiest as long as it is grown in a protected position and given adequate water. It is most easily propagated from cuttings.[6]

Gallery

References

  1. 1 2 "Boronia microphylla". APNI. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Weston, Peter; Duretto, Marco. "Boronia microphylla". Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney: plantnet. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 Harden, Gwen J. (ed.) (2002). Flora of New South Wales. Volume 2 (revised ed.). Sydney: New South Wales University Press. p. 275. ISBN 0868406090.
  4. ↑ Sieber, Franz; Reichenbach, Ludwig (1825). Iconographia Botanica Exotica. Leipzig: Friedrich Hofmeister. p. 53. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  5. 1 2 Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  6. 1 2 "Boronia microphylla". Australian Native Plants Society Australia. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
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