Gurgeena stink bush facts for kids

Zieria vagans is a special plant that belongs to the citrus family, called Rutaceae. It's found only in a small area near Binjour in south-eastern Queensland, Australia. This plant is a bit like a tall, bushy shrub. It has branches covered in soft hairs and leaves made of three parts. When it blooms, you'll see groups of up to fifteen creamy-white flowers. Each flower has four petals and four stamens (the parts that make pollen).

What Zieria vagans Looks Like

Zieria vagans is a shrub that can grow up to 2 m (7 ft) tall. Its thin branches are covered with soft hairs, especially when they are young.

Leaves

The leaves of this plant are quite interesting. Each leaf is made up of three smaller parts, called leaflets. The middle leaflet is usually 32–45 mm (1–2 in) long and 3–6 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide. The leaves also have a small stalk, called a petiole, which is about 5–13 mm (0.2–0.5 in) long.

The underside of the leaflets is mostly smooth, with very few hairs. But the top surface feels rough and has many hairs.

Flowers and Fruit

The flowers of Zieria vagans grow in groups of three to fifteen. These groups appear where the leaves meet the stem, called the leaf axil. Each group grows on a hairy stalk that is 5–13 mm (0.2–0.5 in) long.

Before the flowers open, they are protected by small, scale-like parts called bracts. These bracts are about 1–6 mm (0.04–0.2 in) long and stay on the plant even when the flowers are blooming. The sepals, which are like small leaves at the base of the flower, are triangular and about 1 mm (0.04 in) long and wide.

The four petals are creamy white and shaped like an oval. They are about 2 mm (0.08 in) long and 1–1.5 mm (0.04–0.06 in) wide. Both sides of the petals are hairy. Each flower also has four stamens.

Zieria vagans usually flowers between August and February. After the flowers, the plant produces fruits. These fruits are smooth, dry capsules that are about 4 mm (0.2 in) long and 2 mm (0.08 in) wide.

Plant Names: Taxonomy and Meaning

Every plant has a scientific name, and Zieria vagans is no different!

How it Got its Name

The plant was first officially described in 2007 by two scientists, Marco Duretto and Paul Forster. They found a sample of the plant in a state forest near Binjour. Their description was published in a science journal called Austrobaileya.

What Vagans Means

The second part of the plant's name, vagans, is a Latin word. It means "wandering" or "unsettled." This name was chosen because some groups of this plant grow in places that are between open woodlands and dense vine thickets. It's like they can't quite decide where to settle down!

Where Zieria vagans Lives

This special zieria plant is only found in one small area: the Gurgeena Plateau, which is near Binjour in Queensland. This region is part of what scientists call the Brigalow Belt bioregions. Here, Zieria vagans grows inside or very close to vine thickets. These thickets are often filled with another plant called Backhousia kingii.