Boronia ovata is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an open shrub with simple, egg-shaped leaves and pink to mauve four-petalled flowers. It is found in the Darling Range near Perth.

Boronia ovata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Boronia
Species:
B. ovata
Binomial name
Boronia ovata
Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium

Description

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Boronia ovata is an open shrub that grows to a height of about 40 cm (16 in) and has broadly egg-shaped leaves that about 10 mm (0.39 in) long. The flowers are arranged in small groups on the ends of the branches, each flower on the end of a thin pedicel 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) long. The four sepals are red, broadly egg-shaped with a pointed tip and about 2.5 mm (0.1 in) long. The four petals are pink to mauve, elliptic and about 8 mm (0.3 in) long. The eight stamens are glabrous with an anther about 1 mm (0.04 in) long with a small white tip. The stigma is minute. Flowering occurs from September to November.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

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Boronia ovata was first formally described in 1841 by John Lindley and the description was published in Edwards's Botanical Register.[4][5] The specific epithet (ovata) is a Latin word meaning "egg-shaped".[6]

Distribution and habitat

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This boronia grows in eucalypt woodland in the Darling Range between New Norica and Boddington in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions.[2][3]

Conservation

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Boronia ovata is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Boronia ovata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b Duretto, Marco F.; Wilson, Paul G.; Ladiges, Pauline Y. "Boronia ovata". Flora of Australia: Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Boronia ovata". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. ^ "Boronia ovata". APNI. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  5. ^ Lindley, John (1841). Edwards's Botanical Register (Volume 27). London: James Ridgway. p. sub.t. 47. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  6. ^ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 296.