Lemon boronia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lemon boronia |
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The Lemon Boronia (scientific name: Boronia citrata) is a special plant from the citrus family, called Rutaceae. It only grows in Victoria, Australia. This plant is a woody shrub with leaves that smell strongly like lemons! It has pretty pale pink to rosy pink flowers, each with four petals. These flowers grow in small groups.
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About the Lemon Boronia
The Lemon Boronia is a woody shrub that stands upright. It can grow up to about 0.8 meters (or 2.6 feet) tall. Its leaves and branches have tiny, stiff hairs.
Its leaves are 'pinnate,' which means they look like a feather, with smaller leaflets branching off a main stem. Each leaf is about 6 to 22 millimeters long and 6 to 20 millimeters wide. They usually have between five and eleven small leaflets. The stalk that connects the leaf to the stem is about 1.5 to 3.5 millimeters long.
The leaflet at the very end of the leaf is shaped like a narrow egg. It is about 1 to 7 millimeters long and 1 to 2 millimeters wide. The leaflets on the sides are a bit longer, about 3 to 10 millimeters long and 1 to 3 millimeters wide.
Flowers and Fruit
The flowers of the Lemon Boronia are pale pink to rosy pink. They grow either by themselves or in groups of up to five. You can find them where the leaves meet the stem, or at the very end of the branches. Each flower sits on a small stalk up to 5 millimeters long.
Each flower has four small, triangular parts called sepals, which are about 1 to 1.5 millimeters long. It also has four petals that are 4 to 6.5 millimeters long. The bases of these petals overlap each other. Inside the flower, there are eight stamens (the parts that make pollen) which are hairy. The style (the part that receives pollen) is smooth.
Lemon Boronia plants flower from April to July. After flowering, they produce small, hairy fruits. These fruits are about 3 to 3.5 millimeters long and 1.5 to 2 millimeters wide.
Plant Name and History
The scientific name for this plant, Boronia citrata, was first officially described in 1993. This description was made by a scientist named Neville Grant Walsh. He wrote about it in a science journal called Muelleria, based on a plant he found near Licola in Victoria.
The second part of its scientific name, citrata, comes from a Latin word that means "lemon-like." This name was chosen because of the strong lemon smell of the plant's leaves.
It's interesting to know that another plant, Boronia citriodora, is also sometimes called "lemon boronia." However, that plant grows only in New South Wales, not Victoria.
Where the Lemon Boronia Lives
This special boronia plant grows in areas called subalpine mallee and heath. These are places with low-growing shrubs and open woodlands, often found in cooler, higher areas.
The Lemon Boronia is only known to grow in a specific part of Victoria. You can find it in the upper areas where the Macalister River starts, which is north and east of the town of Licola.
