Boronia octandra
Boronia octandra | |
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Boronia octandra in the Nuytsland Nature Reserve | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Sapindales |
Family: | Rutaceae |
Genus: | Boronia |
Species: | B. octandra
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Binomial name | |
Boronia octandra | |
Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium |
Boronia octandra is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small shrub with three-part leaves and greenish cream to reddish brown, four-petalled flowers.
Description
[edit]Boronia octandra is a shrub that grows to a height of 30 cm (12 in) with its young stems covered with short, soft hairs. The leaves are trifoliate and each leaflet is more or less cylindrical to club-shaped and about 5 mm (0.20 in) long. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils and are greenish cream to yellowish brown on a top-shaped pedicel about 2 mm (0.079 in) long. The four sepals are egg-shaped, about 3 mm (0.1 in) long and the four petals are broadly elliptic and about 8 mm (0.3 in) long. The eight stamens are all fertile and alternate in length with those adjacent to the petals shorter than those adjacent to the sepals. Flowering occurs from June to October.[2][3]
Taxonomy and naming
[edit]Boronia octandra was first formally described in 1971 by Paul Wilson and the description was published in Nuytsia from a specimen he collected west of Ravensthorpe.[4][2] The specific epithet (octandra) mean "eight male", referring to the stamens.[5]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]This boronia grows on undulating plains and breakaways in sandy soil. It is found between Gnowangerup and the West River in the Esperance Plains, Hampton and Mallee biogeographic regions.[2][3]
Conservation status
[edit]Boronia octandra is classified as "not threatened" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia).[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Boronia octandra". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ^ a b c Wilson, Paul G. (1971). "Taxonomic notes on the family Rutaceae, principally of Western Australia". Nuytsia. 1 (2): 199–200. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ a b c "Boronia octandra". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ "Boronia octandra". APNI. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 264. ISBN 9780958034180.