Zieria madida facts for kids

Zieria madida is a special plant that belongs to the citrus family, called Rutaceae. It only grows in one specific area: the tropical, northeastern part of Queensland, Australia. This plant is a bushy shrub that can grow quite tall. It has interesting leaves made of three parts. Its flowers are usually white or light pink, and each flower has four petals and four stamens. You can often find this plant growing in windy, open spots on top of granite mountains.

What Zieria madida Looks Like

Zieria madida is a shrub that grows openly and compactly. It can reach a height of about 2 m (7 ft). Its branches are thin and wiry. They have small bumps where old leaves used to be.

The leaves of this plant are quite unique. Each leaf is made up of three smaller parts, called leaflets. These leaflets are shaped like a narrow oval or an egg. The stem that holds the leaf, called a petiole, is about 8–23 mm (0.3–0.9 in) long. The middle leaflet is about 15–29 mm (0.6–1 in) long and 5–14 mm (0.2–0.6 in) wide. Both sides of the leaflets are smooth and do not have any hairs.

The flowers of Zieria madida are white or light pink. They grow in groups of three to ten flowers. These groups appear where the leaves meet the stem, which is called a leaf axil. However, only about three flowers open at the same time in each group. The flower groups grow on a stalk that is about 4–13 mm (0.2–0.5 in) long. This stalk has clear ridges on it.

Small, scale-like bracts surround the flowers. These bracts 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. They are about 1 mm (0.04 in) long and wide. The four petals are oval-shaped. They are about 4 mm (0.2 in) long and 2 mm (0.08 in) wide. Both sides of the petals have tiny, star-shaped hairs. The four stamens, which are the parts that produce pollen, are about 1.5–2 mm (0.06–0.08 in) long.

This plant mainly flowers from September to November. After the flowers bloom, they turn into fruits. These fruits are smooth, hairless capsules. They are about 4 mm (0.2 in) long and 2 millimetres (0.08 in)^* wide.

How Zieria madida Got Its Name

The plant Zieria madida was officially described in 2007. This description was made by two scientists, Marco Duretto and Paul Forster. They found a sample of the plant on a mountain called Thornton Peak. Their findings were published in a scientific journal called Austrobaileya.

The second part of the plant's scientific name, madida, comes from a Latin word. This Latin word means "moist," "soaked," or "sodden." This name was chosen because the plant grows in very wet and misty areas on top of mountains.

Where Zieria madida Lives

This type of zieria plant is found in a specific area in Queensland, Australia. You can see it on and around Thornton Peak and Mount Pieter Botte. It likes to grow on rocky areas made of granite. These spots are usually on mountaintops and are very windy.