Zieria laxiflora

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.

Wallum zieria
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Zieria
Species:
Z. laxiflora
Binomial name
Zieria laxiflora

Description

Zieria laxiflora is an erect shrub which grows to a height of about 1.2 m (4 ft). The branches are glabrous and have longitudinal ridges. Its leaves are composed of three leaflets with a petiole 5–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long and the central leaflet is 15–55 mm (0.6–2 in) long and 1–5 mm (0.04–0.2 in) wide. The upper surface of the leaves is more or less glabrous and dotted with oil glands whilst the lower surface is covered with small, star-like hairs. The flowers are white to pale pink and are arranged in groups of about nine in leaf axils but there can be as many as fifty in a group. The groups are usually about as long as the leaves but are sometimes much longer. The four sepal lobes are triangular, glabrous and about 2 mm (0.08 in) long. The four petals are about 3.5 mm (0.1 in) long and covered with short, soft hairs. In common with other zierias there are only four stamens. Flowering occurs from August to December and is followed from November by fruit which is a glabrous, slightly warty follicle.[2]

Taxonomy and naming

This zieria was first described in 1863 by George Bentham who gave it the name Zieria laevigata var. laxiflora and published the description in Flora Australiensis from a specimen collected on Stradbroke Island.[3][4] In 1913, Karel Domin raised the variety to species status.[1] The specific epithet (laxiflora) is derived from the Latin words laxus meaning "loose", "slack" or "unstrung"[5]:353 and flora meaning "flowers".[5]:338

Distribution and habitat

Wallum zieria is found in coastal areas north from Newcastle in New South Wales and as far north as Shoalwater Bay in Queensland. It grows in coastal wallum heath and sandy swamps.[2][6]

References
  1. "Zieria laxiflora". APNI. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  2. "Zieria laxiflora". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney: plantnet. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  3. "Zieria laevigata var. laxiflora". APNI. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  4. Bentham, George (1863). Flora Australiensis (Volume 1). London: Lovell, Reeve & Co. pp. 304–305. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  5. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  6. Duretto, Marco F.; Forster, Paul I. (2007). "A taxonomic revision of the genus Zieria Sm. (Rutaceae) in Queensland". Austrobaileya. 7 (3): 519.
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