Boronia amplectens facts for kids

Boronia amplectens is a special plant. It belongs to the citrus family, just like oranges and lemons! This plant is very rare. It has only been found in two places on the Arnhem Land plateau in the Northern Territory of Australia. It's a shrub that spreads out, with long, narrow leaves and flowers that have four petals.

Meet the Boronia amplectens

This plant, Boronia amplectens, is a type of shrub. It can spread out to be about 1 meter (or 3 feet) wide. Its branches are covered in tiny hairs that look like stars.

What Does It Look Like?

The leaves of this boronia are long and thin. They are usually between 15 to 52 millimeters (about 0.6 to 2 inches) long. They are also quite narrow, only about 1.5 to 3 millimeters (0.06 to 0.12 inches) wide. Each leaf has a small stem called a petiole, which is about 0.5 to 2.5 millimeters long.

The flowers usually grow one by one where a leaf meets the stem. Each flower sits on a stalk called a pedicel, which can be 7 to 21 millimeters (about 0.3 to 0.8 inches) long. The plant has four sepals, which are like small leaves that protect the flower bud. These sepals are bigger than the actual petals. They are 3 to 5 millimeters long. The four petals are about 3 to 4 millimeters long. Interestingly, these petals get longer as the fruit starts to grow!

You can see this plant flowering in March and May. After the flowers, it produces a fruit called a capsule. This capsule is small, about 4.5 millimeters (0.18 inches) long and 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) wide.

How It Got Its Name

The Boronia amplectens was first officially described in 1997. A scientist named Marco Duretto was the one who gave it its formal description. He published his findings in a scientific journal called Australian Systematic Botany.

The second part of its scientific name, amplectens, comes from a Latin word. The Latin word amplector means "to encircle," "to enfold," or "to embrace." This name might refer to how parts of the plant grow or look.

Where Does It Live?

This special boronia plant is extremely rare. It has only been found in two specific locations. Both of these places are on the Arnhem Land plateau, which is located in the top part of Australia, the Northern Territory.