Zieria exsul
| Zieria exsul | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Rutaceae |
| Genus: | Zieria |
| Species: | Z. exsul
|
| Binomial name | |
| Zieria exsul | |
Zieria exsul is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area of southeast Queensland. It is an open, straggly shrub with hairy branches, three-part leaves and white flowers in groups of up to twelve, the groups longer than the leaves and each flower with four petals and four stamens.
Description[edit]
Zieria exsul is an open, weak, straggly shrub which grows to a height of 60 cm (20 in) and has relatively smooth but hairy branches. The three-part leaves have a petiole 2–3 mm (0.08–0.1 in) long and a central leaflet which is egg-shaped, 10–16 mm (0.4–0.6 in) long, 2–5 mm (0.08–0.2 in) wide with the other two leaflets slightly smaller. The upper surface of the leaf is slightly hairy but the lower surface is densely hairy with woolly, star-shaped hairs.[2]
The flowers are white and are arranged singly or in groups of up to twelve in leaf axils on a mostly glabrous stalk 10–19 mm (0.4–0.7 in) long, the groups longer than the leaves. The sepals are more or less triangular, about 1 mm (0.04 in) long and wide and the four petals are elliptic in shape, about 2 mm (0.08 in) long and 1.5 mm (0.06 in) wide. The four stamens are less than 1 mm (0.04 in) long. Flowering occurs mostly occurs between August and September and is followed by fruit which is a glabrous capsule, about 3 mm (0.1 in) long and 2 mm (0.08 in) wide. This species is similar to Zieria compacta except that it is a more straggly shrub and has glabrous flower stalks.[2]
Taxonomy and naming[edit]
Zieria exsul was first formally described in 2007 by Marco Duretto and Paul Irwin Forster from a specimen collected in Caloundra and the description was published in Austrobaileya.[1] The specific epithet (exsul) is a Latin word meaning "a banished person"[3] referring to this species having been displaced from most of its probable former range.[2]
Distribution and habitat[edit]
This zieria grows in woodland and wallum heathland near Buderim and Caloundra in the South East Queensland biogeographic region.[2]
Conservation[edit]
Zieria exsul is listed as "endangered" under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Zieria exsul". APNI. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
- ^ a b c d Duretto, Marco F.; Forster, Paul I. (2007). "A taxonomic revision of the genus Zieria Sm. (Rutaceae) in Queensland". Austrobaileya. 7 (3): 502–504.
- ^ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 842.
- ^ "Zieria exsul". Queensland Government, Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2017.