Zieria graniticola facts for kids

Zieria graniticola is a special plant that belongs to the citrus family, called Rutaceae. It's a small, bushy shrub with branches that stand up straight. Its leaves have three parts, and its flowers are a pretty pale pink. Each flower has four petals and four stamens. This plant is quite rare! It's only found in two places near a town called Stanthorpe in Queensland, Australia.

What Does This Plant Look Like?

Zieria graniticola is a thick, bushy plant that can grow up to about 1 m (3 ft) tall. Its branches are thin and stand straight up. They are also covered in lots of tiny hairs.

The leaves are made of three small parts, called leaflets. These leaflets are narrow and shaped like a spear, about 6–18 mm (0.2–0.7 in) long and 1–4 mm (0.04–0.2 in) wide. The stem that holds the leaflets, called a petiole, is about 1–3 mm (0.04–0.1 in) long. Both sides of the leaflets are mostly smooth, but sometimes they have a few hairs on the main vein.

The flowers are pale pink. They grow alone or in small groups of two or three where the leaves meet the stem (this spot is called a leaf axil). Each flower sits on a short, hairy stalk, about 1–5 mm (0.04–0.2 in) long. The small leaf-like parts under the petals, called sepals, have a few hairs and are about 1 mm (0.04 in) long and wide.

The four petals are oval-shaped, about 4 mm (0.16 in) long and 2 mm (0.08 in) wide. They are covered with tiny star-shaped hairs on both sides. The four stamens, which produce pollen, are about 1 mm (0.04 in) long.

This plant flowers between August and November. After the flowers, it grows a fruit called a capsule in October and November. This capsule is mostly smooth and about 4 mm (0.2 in) long and 2 mm (0.08 in) wide.

How This Plant Got Its Name

The plant Zieria graniticola was officially described in 2007. This was done by two scientists, Marco Duretto and Paul Forster. They used notes from another scientist, James Armstrong.

The first plant used to describe the species (called the type specimen) was found in the Passchendale State Forest, near Stanthorpe. The description was then published in a science journal called Austrobaileya.

The second part of the plant's name, graniticola, tells us something important about where it lives. The word graniticola comes from Latin. It means "dweller of granite," which refers to the rocky, granite areas where this plant grows.

Where Does This Plant Live?

This special zieria plant grows in open forests. These forests have lots of shrubs growing underneath the taller trees.

Zieria graniticola is found in two separate areas (called disjunct populations). One area is north of Stanthorpe, and the other is south of Stanthorpe. It likes to grow in sandy soil that is found over granite rock.

Is This Plant in Danger?

Yes, Zieria graniticola is considered an "endangered" plant. This means there are very few of them left, and they are at high risk of disappearing forever. The government of Queensland protects this plant under a law called the Nature Conservation Act 1992. This law helps to keep endangered plants and animals safe.