Boronia mollis

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Soft boronia
Boronia mollis Dee Why.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Boronia
Species:
B. mollis
Binomial name
Boronia mollis
Boronia mollis DistMap76.png
Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium

Boronia mollis, commonly known as soft boronia, [2] is a plant in the citrus family and is endemic to New South Wales. It is a shrub with pinnate leaves, and small groups of pink flowers in leaf axils. It grows in coastal areas in forest.

Contents

Description

Boronia mollis is an erect shrub that grows to 2 m (7 ft) high with branches densely covered with star-like hairs but which become hairless as they age. The leaves have mostly between three and nine leaflets and are 10–60 mm (0.39–2.4 in) long and 6–30 mm (0.2–1 in) wide in outline on a petiole 2–28 mm (0.08–1 in) long. The end leaflet is broadly elliptic, 6–35 mm (0.24–1.4 in) long and 4–9 mm (0.2–0.4 in) wide and the side leaflets are shorter and narrower than the end leaflet. The leaflets are usually glabrous on the upper surface and paler with a few hairs below. The leaves have an unpleasant citrus/bitumen type scent. Between two and six, usually three flowers are arranged in leaf axils on a pedicel 6–20 mm (0.24–0.79 in) long. The four sepals are 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long and about 1 mm (0.04 in) wide but enlarge as the fruit develops and are hairy on the back. The four petals are pale to deep pink, mostly 7–10 mm (0.28–0.39 in) long and 3–4.5 mm (0.12–0.18 in) wide but enlarge slightly as the fruit develops and are hairy on the back. The bases of the petals do not overlap. There are eight stamens, with those nearest the sepals longer than those near the petals and the anthers are yellow. Flowering occurs from June to November. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Taxonomy and naming

Boronia mollis was first formally described by John Lindley from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham and the description was published in Edwards's Botanical Register . The original specimen was collected by the Nepean River in 1825. [6] [7] The specific epithet (mollis) is a Latin word meaning "soft", [8] referring to the leaf, and the hairs on the stem. [3]

Distribution and habitat

Soft boronia is a rare species that grows in dry eucalypt forest from the Kendall district to the Wollemi and Blue Mountains National Parks. [2] [4]

Use in horticulture

This is one of the hardier boronias and is popular in cultivation. It requires moist but well-drained soil, preferably in dappled shade. [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Boronia pinnata</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia pinnata is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae, and is endemic to New South Wales. It is an erect, woody shrub with pinnate leaves and groups of between three and forty pink flowers arranged in leaf axils. It flowers in spring and early summer and is found in coastal areas between Ballina and Jervis Bay.

<i>Boronia fraseri</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia fraseri, commonly known as Fraser's boronia, is a plant in the citrus family occurring near Sydney in Australia. It is an erect, multi-branched shrub with pinnate leaves and pink flowers arranged in small groups in the leaf axils.

<i>Cyanothamnus anemonifolius</i> Species of flowering plant

Cyanothamnus anemonifolius, commonly known as narrow-leaved boronia or sticky boronia, is a flowering plant that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a shrub with mostly pinnate leaves, with white to pale pink four-petalled flowers in leaf axils.

<i>Cyanothamnus nanus</i> Species of plant

Cyanothamnus nanus, commonly known as the dwarf boronia or small boronia is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a prostrate or low spreading shrub with simple or three-part leaves and white or pale pink four-petalled flowers.

<i>Boronia duiganiae</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia duiganiae is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to mountain ranges in south-east Queensland, Australia. It is an erect shrub with many branches, leaves with one, three or five leaflets, and pink to white, four-petalled flowers.

<i>Cyanothamnus occidentalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Cyanothamnus occidentalis, commonly known as the rock boronia, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect, woody shrub with pinnate or bipinnate leaves and groups of up to three white to pale pink, pink four-petalled flowers arranged in leaf axils.

<i>Boronia subulifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia subulifolia is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area in south-eastern New South Wales in Australia. It is an erect, woody shrub with pinnate leaves with mostly linear leaflets, and light to deep pink, four-petalled flowers in the leaf axils or on the ends of the branches.

<i>Boronia umbellata</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia umbellata, commonly known as the Orara boronia, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area on the north coast of New South Wales. It is an erect shrub with many branches, aromatic, pinnate leaves and clusters of up to ten dark pink flowers in the leaf axils.

<i>Boronia angustisepala</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia angustisepala is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to New South Wales, Australia. It is an erect shrub with many branches, pinnate leaves with up to eleven leaflets, and bright pink, four-petalled flowers.

Boronia citrata, commonly known as lemon boronia, is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae and is endemic to Victoria. It is an erect, woody shrub with pinnate, strongly lemon-scented leaves and pale pink to rosy pink, four-petalled flowers arranged in groups of up to five.

<i>Boronia hapalophylla</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia hapalophylla is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is an erect or straggling shrub with simple leaves, hairy branches and relatively large pink, four-petalled flowers.

Boronia hoipolloi is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area in Queensland. It is an erect or pendulous shrub with pinnate leaves and pink, four-petalled flowers. It is only known from a few collections near Mount Isa.

<i>Cyanothamnus inflexus</i> Species of flowering plant

Cyanothamnus inflexus is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to tablelands near the New South Wales - Queensland border in Australia. It is an erect, woody shrub with pinnate leaves and up to seven white to pink four-petalled flowers in the leaf axils. Boronia bipinnata is similar but has larger, bipinnate or tripinnate leaves and smaller sepals and petals.

Boronia interrex, commonly known as the Regent River boronia, is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is an erect, sometimes low-lying shrub with pinnate leaves, cream-coloured to pale pink sepals and pink petals, the sepals longer and wider than the petals.

<i>Boronia kalumburuensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia kalumburuensis is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to the Kalumburu area of Western Australia. It is an erect or sprawling shrub with many branches, pinnate leaves and white to pink four-petalled flowers with the sepals longer and wider than the petals.

Boronia minutipinna is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with many branches, hairy stems and leaves, pinnate leaves and white to pink, four-petalled flowers with the sepals longer and wider than the petals.

Cyanothamnus montimulliganensis is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a single mountain in Queensland. It is an erect, woody shrub with pinnate or bipinnate leaves and white, four-petalled flowers usually arranged singly in leaf axils.

<i>Boronia palasepala</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia palasepala is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small part of Queensland, Australia. It is an erect, rounded shrub with many branches, simple leaves and pink to white, four-petalled flowers.

<i>Boronia rubiginosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia rubiginosa is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to New South Wales in Australia. It is a shrub with pinnate leaves that are paler on the lower surface, and up to three pale to bright pink, four-petalled flowers in the leaf axils.

<i>Boronia stricta</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia stricta is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae and is endemic to near-coastal areas of the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender shrub with often crowded pinnate leaves with linear leaflets, and pink, four-petalled flowers borne singly or in groups of two or three in leaf axils.

References

  1. "Boronia mollis". APC. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Weston, Peter H.; Duretto, Marco F. "Boronia mollis". Royal botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  3. 1 2 Robinson, Les. Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney. p. 115. ISBN   978-0-7318-1211-0.
  4. 1 2 Duretto, Marco F.; Wilson, Paul G.; Ladiges, Pauline Y. "Boronia mollis". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  5. Duretto, Marco F. (1999). "Systematics of Boronia sectiion Valvatae sensu lato (Rutaceae)" (PDF). Muelleria. 12 (1): 66–68. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  6. "Boronia mollis". APNI. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  7. Lindley, John (1841). "The three-leaved Boronia". Edwards's Botanical Register. 27: sub.t. 47. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  8. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 725.
  9. "Boronia mollis". Australian Native Plants Society (Australia). Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  10. "Boronia mollis". Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 2 April 2019.