Boronia microphylla
Small-leaved boronia | |
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Boronia microphylla leaves and flowers | |
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Species: | B. microphylla
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Binomial name | |
Boronia microphylla |
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]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Boronia_microphylla_%28habit%29_Torrington.jpg/220px-Boronia_microphylla_%28habit%29_Torrington.jpg)
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
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B. microphylla in the ANBG
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B. microphylla in the ANBG
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B. microphylla in the Gibraltar Range National Park
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B. microphylla (white flowers) in the Gibraltar Range
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B. microphylla in the Washpool National Park
References
- ^ a b "Boronia microphylla". APNI. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- ^ a b c Weston, Peter; Duretto, Marco. "Boronia microphylla". Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney: plantnet. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- ^ a b Harden, Gwen J. (ed.) (2002). Flora of New South Wales. Volume 2 (revised ed.). Sydney: New South Wales University Press. p. 275. ISBN 978-0868406091.
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has generic name (help) - ^ Sieber, Franz; Reichenbach, Ludwig (1825). Iconographia Botanica Exotica. Leipzig: Friedrich Hofmeister. p. 53. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- ^ a b Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
- ^ a b "Boronia microphylla". Australian Native Plants Society Australia. Retrieved 11 November 2016.