Zieria obovata

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Zieria obovata
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Zieria
Species:
Z. obovata
Binomial name
Zieria obovata
Synonyms [1]

Zieria aspalathoides var. obovata(C.T.White)

Zieria obovata is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a small, open shrub with leaves composed of three leaflets, and with up to three cream-coloured to pale pink flowers with four petals and four stamens. It usually grows on steep, rocky slopes in wet open forest.

Contents

Description

Zieria obovata is an open shrub which grows to a height of about 1 m (3 ft). The branches are hairy especially when young. Its leaves are composed of egg-shaped leaflets with the thinner end towards the base. The petiole is absent or less than 1 mm (0.04 in) long and the central leaflet is 6–13 mm (0.2–0.5 in) long and 2–4 mm (0.08–0.2 in) wide. The upper surface of the leaves is dark green and more or less glabrous while the lower surface is a paler green and hairy. The flowers are cream-coloured to pale pink and are arranged singly or in groups of up to three in leaf axils. The groups are longer than the leaves and have a hairy stalk 3–28 mm (0.1–1 in) long. The flowers are surrounded by leaf-like bracts and the four sepal lobes are triangular and about 0.5 mm (0.02 in) long. The four petals are 1.5 mm (0.06 in) long and in common with other zierias, there are only four stamens. Flowering mainly occurs from September to March and is followed by fruit which is a more or less glabrous follicle. [2] [3] [4]

Taxonomy and naming

This zieria was first formally described in 1942 by Cyril Tenison White and given the name Zieria aspalathoides var. obovata. The description was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland from a specimen collected near Herberton. [5] [6] In 2002, James Armstrong raised the variety to species status. [1] The specific epithet (obovata) derived from the Latin word ovata meaning "egg-shaped" [7] :580 with the prefix ob- meaning "towards". [7] :566

Distribution and habitat

Zieria obovata grows in wet open forest often on steep, rocky granite slopes. It is found in two areas within 10 km (6 mi) of Herberton. [3] [4]

Conservation

This zieria is listed as "Endangered" under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992 and under the Commonwealth Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC) Act. The main threat to its survival is stochastic events because of the species' limited distribution. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Zieria aspalathoides</i> Species of flowering plant

Zieria aspalathoides, commonly known as the whorled zieria, heath zieria, hairy zieria or heathy zieria, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a heath-like shrub with leaves that appear to be whorled and with pink flowers in groups of three, each with four petals and four stamens.

<i>Zieria compacta</i> Species of shrub

Zieria compacta is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect, bushy shrub with leaves composed of three leaflets, and white flowers with four petals and four stamens. It usually grows in rocky places on steep hills.

<i>Zieria adenodonta</i> Species of flowering plant

Zieria adenodonta, commonly known as the Wollumbin zieria, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a dense, bushy shrub with leaves composed of three leaflets which are warty on the upper surface. In winter and early spring it has groups of five to eight flowers, each with four white petals, the groups usually shorter than the leaves.

<i>Zieria minutiflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Zieria minutiflora, commonly known as twiggy zieria, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small, erect, twiggy shrub with leaves composed of three leaflets, and clusters of small white flowers with four petals and four stamens. It usually grows as an understorey shrub in eucalypt woodland.

Zieria alata is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is only found on mountains in the Mossman and Daintree areas in Queensland. It is an open shrub with wiry, lumpy branches, three-part leaves and small, white, cream-coloured or pale pink flowers in small groups, each with four petals and four stamens.

Zieria bifida is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is only known from two areas near Nambour in Queensland. It is an open, straggly shrub with hairy branches, three-part leaves and small, white flowers in small groups, each flower with four petals and four stamens.

Zieria cephalophila is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is only found on a single, isolated mountain in Queensland. It is a compact shrub with wiry branches, warty, three-part leaves and one to three white flowers, each with four petals and four stamens, in leaf axils.

Zieria distans is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is only found on a few isolated mountains in Queensland. It is a straggly shrub with wiry branches, warty, three-part leaves and clusters of up to about twenty small white flowers, each with four petals and four stamens, in the leaf axils.

Zieria eungellaensis is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is only found on a few isolated mountains in Queensland. It is a compact but open shrub with wiry branches, three-part leaves and flowers in small groups, each flower white or pink with four petals and four stamens, and is endemic to the Eungella National Park.

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.

<i>Zieria fraseri</i> Species of shrub

Zieria fraseri is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a dense, bushy shrub with leaves composed of three leaflets, and white flowers with four petals and four stamens. It usually grows in rocky places on steep hills.

Zieria graniticola is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is a dense, compact shrub with erect wiry branches, three-part leaves and pale pink flowers in groups of up to three, each with four petals and four stamens. It is only known from two population near Stanthorpe in Queensland, Australia.

<i>Zieria ingramii</i> Species of flowering plant

Zieria ingramii, commonly known as Keith's zieria, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area in central New South Wales. It is a slender, spindly, aromatic shrub with three-part, clover-like leaves and clusters of about seven white to pale pink flowers with four petals and four stamens. The species is only known from two state forests near Dubbo.

Zieria insularis is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and endemic to tropical north-eastern Queensland. It is an open, straggly shrub with wiry or spindly branches, three-part leaves and between one and a few white flowers with four petals and four stamens arranged in the leaf axils. It mostly grows near granite outcrops which are surrounded by forest or rainforest.

Zieria laxiflora, commonly known as wallum zieria, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect shrub with leaves composed of three leaflets, and clusters of about nine white or pale pink flowers with four petals and four stamens. It usually grows is coastal heathland.

<i>Zieria littoralis</i> Species of flowering plant

Zieria littoralis, commonly known as dwarf zieria is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is an erect or spreading shrub with velvety, three-part, clover-like leaves and clusters of up to thirty white or pale pink flowers with four petals and four stamens. It grows on exposed, rocky coastal headlands.

<i>Zieria parrisiae</i> Species of plant

Zieria parrisiae, commonly known as Parris' zieria, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area near Pambula on the south coast of New South Wales. It is a bushy shrub with warty, clover-like leaves composed of three leaflets and in spring there are clusters of up to 24 white to pale yellow flowers with four petals, near the ends of the branches.

Zieria rimulosa is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to north Queensland. It is a shrub with leaves composed of three leaflets, and with white flowers with four petals and four stamens. Unlike many other zierias, its leaves are neither rough, glandular or densely hairy.

Zieria vagans is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and endemic to a small area near Binjour in south-eastern Queensland. It is an open, straggly shrub with densely hairy branches, three-part leaves and groups of up to fifteen flowers with four creamy-white petals and four stamens.

Zieria whitei is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area of north Queensland. It is a dense, compact shrub with erect wiry branches, three-part leaves and groups of up to three white to pale pink flowers with four petals and four stamens. It is only known from two populations.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Zieria obovata". APNI. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  2. "Zieria obovata". Queensland Government Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Approved conservation advice for Zieria obovata" (PDF). Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  4. 1 2 Duretto, Marco F.; Forster, Paul Irwin (2007). "A taxonomic revision of the genus Zieria Sm. (Rutaceae) in Queensland". Austrobaileya. 7 (3): 524–525.
  5. "Zieria aspalathoides var. obovata". APNI. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  6. White, Cyril T. (1942). "Contributions to the Queensland flora. No. 7". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland. 53: 208–209. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  7. 1 2 Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.