Zieria distans facts for kids

Zieria distans is a special plant. It belongs to the citrus family called Rutaceae. You can only find it growing on a few mountains in Queensland, Australia. This plant is a bit like a sprawling bush with thin, wiry branches. Its leaves have three parts and feel a bit bumpy. It also grows small white flowers, usually in groups of up to twenty. Each flower has four petals and four tiny parts called stamens. These flowers grow where the leaves meet the stem.

What Zieria distans Looks Like

Zieria distans is an open, sprawling bush. It can grow up to about 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall. Its branches are thin and wiry, and the youngest ones have thick, soft hairs. The branches also feel bumpy.

Leaves of the Plant

The leaves have a small stem called a petiole. This stem is about 5 to 12 millimeters (0.2 to 0.5 inches) long. The main part of the leaf is narrow and oval-shaped. It is about 11 to 30 millimeters (0.4 to 1.2 inches) long. It is also about 1.0 to 4.5 millimeters (0.04 to 0.18 inches) wide. The other two parts of the leaf are about the same size. The top of the leaves feels bumpy. This is because of tiny glands on them. The main vein on the underside of the leaf also feels bumpy.

Flowers and Fruit

The flowers are white. They grow in groups of about 12 to 20. These groups appear where the leaves join the stem. Each group has a bumpy, hairy stalk about 2 to 8 millimeters (0.08 to 0.3 inches) long. The groups of flowers are shorter than the leaves.

The small green parts under the petals are called sepals. They are bumpy and about 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) long. The four petals are oval-shaped. They are about 1.8 to 3 millimeters (0.07 to 0.12 inches) long. They are also about 1.0 to 1.5 millimeters (0.04 to 0.06 inches) wide. These petals are covered with tiny star-shaped hairs. The four stamens are about 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) long.

The plant flowers between May and September. After flowering, it grows fruit. The fruit is a smooth capsule. It is about 3.5 millimeters (0.14 inches) long and 0.5 millimeters (0.02 inches) wide.

How Zieria distans Got Its Name

Zieria distans was first officially described in 2007. Two scientists, Marco Duretto and Paul Forster, named it. They found a sample of the plant near Coalstoun Lakes in Queensland. They published their description in a science magazine called Austrobaileya.

The second part of its name, distans, is a Latin word. It means "being apart" or "well separated." This name was chosen because this plant grows on mountain tops and ridges that are far apart from each other.

Where Zieria distans Lives

This type of zieria plant grows in rocky areas. You can find it on mountain tops and ridges. It lives in woodlands and shrublands in the South East Queensland area. There are separate groups of these plants. They are found on the Walla Range, Coongara Rock, Kroombit Tops, Westwood Range, and Mount Roberts.

Protecting Zieria distans

Zieria distans is listed as "least concern" in Queensland. This means that the government believes it is not currently at risk of disappearing. This listing is under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992.