Zieria boolbunda facts for kids

Zieria boolbunda is a special plant that belongs to the citrus family, called Rutaceae. You can only find it growing near Mount Perry in Queensland, Australia. This plant is a thick, bushy shrub with tough, thin branches. Its leaves look a bit like clover because they have three parts. When it blooms, it has pretty pinkish-cream flowers. Each flower has four petals and four stamens.

What Does Zieria boolbunda Look Like?

Zieria boolbunda is a very dense and compact shrub. It usually grows to be about 1 meter (3 feet) tall. Its branches are thin and strong, and they feel rough. This roughness comes from old leaf bases and small, warty bumps called glands.

Leaves of the Boolbunda Zieria

The leaves of this plant have a small stem, called a petiole, which is about 5 to 10 millimeters (0.2 to 0.4 inches) long. Each leaf is divided into three smaller parts, or leaflets, just like a clover. The middle leaflet is shaped like an oval. It is about 11 to 25 millimeters (0.4 to 1 inch) long and 3.5 to 8 millimeters (0.1 to 0.3 inches) wide. The other two leaflets are similar but a little smaller. The leaflets are flat, and you can easily see a main vein on the underside.

Flowers of the Boolbunda Zieria

The flowers of Zieria boolbunda are a lovely pinkish-cream color. They grow in small groups of about seven flowers where the leaves meet the stem, which is called a leaf axil. These flower groups grow on a stalk that is about 4 to 15 millimeters (0.2 to 0.6 inches) long. Usually, only one to three flowers are open at the same time in each group.

Each flower has small, triangular parts called sepals, which are about 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) long and wide. The four petals are oval-shaped and measure about 2.5 millimeters (0.1 inches) long and 1.5 millimeters (0.06 inches) wide. These petals have tiny clear dots (glands) and are a bit hairy on the outside. Inside the flower, there are four stamens, which are about 1.5 millimeters (0.06 inches) long.

When Does Zieria boolbunda Flower?

Zieria boolbunda mainly flowers in May. After the flowers bloom, they turn into a smooth, dry fruit called a capsule. This capsule is about 3 millimeters (0.1 inches) long and 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) wide.

Where Does Zieria boolbunda Grow?

This special zieria plant grows in cracks and spaces in granite rocks. You can find it in woodlands or heath areas that are higher than 600 meters (about 2,000 feet) above sea level. Even though it only grows in a small area, there are usually many of these plants in the places where they are found.

How Was Zieria boolbunda Named?

The plant Zieria boolbunda was officially described in 2007. Two scientists, Marco Duretto and Paul Forster, gave it its name. They found a sample of the plant on Boolbunda Rock, near Mount Perry and Boolboonda in the Burnett area. They published their description in a science journal called Austrobaileya. The second part of its name, boolbunda, comes from "the picturesque and imposing rock this species appears to be restricted to." This means the name honors the beautiful and important rock where this plant seems to live only.