Boronia fabianoides facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Boronia fabianoides |
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| Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium |
Boronia fabianoides is a special kind of plant. It belongs to the citrus family, called Rutaceae. This plant only grows naturally in the south-west part of Western Australia. It's a small, bushy plant with lots of branches. Its leaves are simple and look a bit like tiny tubes. The plant has pretty flowers that can be white, pink, or light blue. Each flower has four petals and grows where a leaf meets the stem.
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What Does Boronia fabianoides Look Like?
This plant is a small, bushy shrub. It has many branches and usually grows to be about 0.3 to 0.6 meters (1 to 2 feet) tall. Its leaves are simple and shaped like thin cylinders. They are about 5 to 15 millimeters (0.2 to 0.6 inches) long. Each leaf has a small groove on its top surface and often grows in groups.
The flowers of Boronia fabianoides are white, pink, or light blue. They grow one by one where a leaf joins the stem. Each flower sits on a short, thick stalk called a pedicel, which is about 1 to 2 millimeters (0.04 to 0.08 inches) long.
The flowers have four sepals. Sepals are small, leaf-like parts that protect the flower bud. These sepals are thick, narrow, and shaped like a triangle or an egg. They are about 1 to 3 millimeters (0.04 to 0.12 inches) long. The four petals are wide and oval-shaped. They are about 3 to 7 millimeters (0.1 to 0.3 inches) long. The petals are thicker and have small glands along their middle line. Inside the flower, there are eight stamens, which are the parts that produce pollen, and they are covered in tiny hairs.
How Did Boronia fabianoides Get Its Name?
This plant was first officially described in 1904. A scientist named Ludwig Diels gave it the name Eriostemon fabianoides. He wrote about it in a science journal called Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie.
Later, in 1970, another scientist named Paul G. Wilson changed its name to Boronia fabianoides. In 1998, he also described two different types, or subspecies, of this plant:
- Boronia fabianoides subsp. fabianoides: This type grows to be about 0.1 to 0.3 meters (0.3 to 1 foot) tall. It has white petals with a green line down the middle, and these petals are about 3 millimeters (0.1 inches) long.
- Boronia fabianoides subsp. rosea: This type grows to about 0.3 meters (1 foot) tall. It has white petals with a pink line down the middle.
Where Does Boronia fabianoides Grow?
The subspecies fabianoides grows in areas with Eucalyptus trees. You can find it between the towns of Norseman and Esperance in Western Australia.
The subspecies rosea prefers different places. It grows on hillsides, near large granite rocks, and on flat, wavy plains. You can find it between Lake King and the Fraser Range, which is east of Norseman.
Is Boronia fabianoides Safe?
The Western Australian Government's Department of Parks and Wildlife checks on plants and animals. They have said that both types of Boronia fabianoides are "not threatened." This means they are not currently in danger of disappearing.
