Boronia thujona

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Bronzy boronia
Boronia thujona.jpg
Boronia thujona in the Australian National Botanic Gardens
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. thujona
Binomial name
Boronia thujona
Boronia thujona DistMap123.png
Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium
Habit Boronia thujona habit.jpg
Habit

Boronia thujona, commonly known as the bronzy boronia, [2] is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to near coastal areas of southern New South Wales. It is a shrub or small tree with aromatic, pinnate leaves and groups of between two and six bright pink flowers in the leaf axils.

Contents

Description

Boronia thujona is a glabrous shrub or small tree that grows to a height of 1–4 m (3–10 ft) with two grooves between the leaf bases on the smaller stems. It has aromatic, pinnate leaves with between three and fifteen leaflets. The leaf is 30–80 mm (1–3 in) long and 23–70 mm (0.9–3 in) wide in outline with a petiole 10–15 mm (0.4–0.6 in) long. The end leaflet is narrow elliptic in shape, 5–25 mm (0.2–1 in) long and 1–4 mm (0.04–0.2 in) wide and the side leaflets are similar but usually longer. The flowers are bright pink and are arranged in pairs or groups of up to six in leaf axils, each flower on a pedicel 5–15 mm (0.2–0.6 in) long. The four sepals are triangular, 0.5–1.5 mm (0.02–0.06 in) long, 0.5–1 mm (0.02–0.04 in) wide. The four petals are 5–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long with a hairy lower surface and a small point on the tip. The eight stamens have hairy filaments. The stigma is about the same width as the style. Flowering occurs from August to November and the fruit is a glabrous capsule 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long and 2–2.5 mm (0.08–0.1 in) wide. [2] [3]

Taxonomy and naming

Boronia thujona was first formally described in 1922 by Arthur de Ramon Penfold and Marcus Baldwin Welch and the description was published in Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales . [4] [5] The specific epithet (thujona) refers to the ketone, thujone that Penfold, a chemist, and Welch, an economic botanist, extracted from this plant. [2] [5] [6] [7]

The common name, bronzy boronia, was first used by Jean Galbraith in 1977 and refers to a bronze sheen, sometimes present on the leaves. [2]

Distribution and habitat

The bronzy boronia grows in damp, shady forest in the Sydney region and south to the Budawang Range. [2]

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 muelleri</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia muelleri, commonly known as the forest boronia or pink boronia, is a flowering plant that occurs in forest, woodland and heath in Victoria and New South Wales in Australia. It is an erect, woody shrub or small tree with pinnate leaves and up to fifteen pink to white four-petalled flowers arranged in leaf axils in spring and summer.

<i>Boronia mollis</i> Species of plant

Boronia mollis, commonly known as soft boronia, 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.

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

Boronia alulata is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae and is endemic to Cape York Peninsula. It is an erect shrub with many branches, pinnate leaves and pink or white, four-petalled flowers.

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

Boronia amabilis, commonly known as Wyberba boronia, is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area in southern Queensland. It is an erect shrub with many branches, pinnate leaves with hairy lower surfaces and pink, four-petalled flowers.

<i>Boronia filifolia</i> Species of plant

Boronia filifolia, commonly known as the slender boronia, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a slender shrub with simple or pinnate leaves and pale to deep pink four-petalled flowers.

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

Boronia hemichiton, commonly known as Mt Arthur boronia is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is an erect, woody shrub with compound leaves and pink or white, four-petalled flowers.

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

Boronia hippopalus, commonly known as velvet boronia is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is an erect, woody shrub with pinnate leaves and white to pink, four-petalled flowers.

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

Boronia latipinna, commonly known as the Grampians boronia, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to the Grampians in Victoria. It is an erect, woody shrub with pinnate leaves and pink or white, four petalled flowers.

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

Boronia pilosa, commonly known as the hairy boronia, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is an erect, woody shrub with hairy branches, pinnate, sometimes hairy leaves and groups of up to ten white to pink, four petalled flowers.

<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 warrumbunglensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Boronia warrumbunglensis is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area in the central west of New South Wales. It is a shrub with many branches, pinnate leaves and one or two pink, four-petalled flowers in the leaf axils. It is only known from the Warrumbungles and nearby districts.

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

Boronia galbraithiae, commonly known as the aniseed boronia or Galbraith's boronia, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area in Victoria. It is an erect, woody, fennel-scented, hairless shrub with pinnate leaves and white to deep pink, four-petalled flowers arranged in groups in the leaf axils.

<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.

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 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.

Boronia thedae, commonly known as the Theda 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 shrub when young, later a prostrate shrub with many branches, pinnate leaves, four white to cream-coloured or pale pink sepals and four similarly coloured petals, the sepals longer and wider than the petals.

Cyanothamnus yarrowmerensis is a species of erect, woody shrub that is endemic to Queensland. It has pinnate or bipinnate leaves and groups of up to seven flowers with white petals in leaf axils.

References

  1. "Boronia thujona". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Duretto, Marco F. (2003). "Notes on Boronia (Rutaceae) in eastern and northern Australia" (PDF). Muelleria. 17: 66–67. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  3. "Boronia thujona". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  4. "Boronia thujona". APNI. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  5. 1 2 Penfold, Arthur R.; Welch, Marcus B. (1922). "Two pinnate leaf boronias and their essential oils with description of a new species". Journal and Proceeding of the Royal Society of New South Wales. 55: 196–209. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  6. "Penfold, Arthur (de) Ramon (1890 - 1980)". Australian National Herbarium. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  7. "Welch, Marcus Baldwin (1895 - 1942)". Australian National Herbarium. Retrieved 19 February 2019.