Zieria scopulus facts for kids

Zieria scopulus is a special plant that belongs to the citrus family called Rutaceae. It is found only in south-eastern Queensland, Australia. This plant is a small, bushy shrub with thin, flexible branches. Its leaves have three parts, and it grows groups of up to twenty white flowers. Each flower has four petals and four stamens. However, only a few flowers open at the same time. You can only find Zieria scopulus growing on two volcanic peaks near Ipswich.

What Does Zieria scopulus Look Like?

Zieria scopulus is an open, bushy shrub that can grow to be about 1 m (3 ft) tall or even more. It has thin, wiry branches. The leaves are made up of three oval-shaped parts, called leaflets. The middle leaflet is usually 11–23 mm (0.4–0.9 in) long and 3–9 mm (0.1–0.4 in) wide. Each leaf has a stalk, called a petiole, which is about 5–11 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long. The edges of the leaflets are often wavy, especially near the tip.

Flowers and Fruit

The flowers of Zieria scopulus grow in groups of up to twenty. These groups appear where the leaves meet the stem, which is called a leaf axil. Even though there can be many flowers in a group, only one to three flowers are open at any given time. The flower groups grow on a stalk that is about 4–18 mm (0.2–0.7 in) long. Small, scale-like leaves called bracts surround the flowers and stay there even when the flowers are blooming.

The outer parts of the flower, called sepals, are shaped like triangles and are about 1 mm (0.04 in) long and wide. The four white petals are oval-shaped, about 2 mm (0.08 in) long and 1.5 mm (0.06 in) wide. They have tiny, star-shaped hairs on their outer surface. Each flower also has four stamens, which are the parts that produce pollen.

Zieria scopulus usually flowers in May and June. After the flowers bloom, they produce smooth, hairless fruit pods. These pods, called capsules, are about 3 mm (0.1 in) long and 2 mm (0.08 in) wide.

Where Does Zieria scopulus Live?

This special plant is only found in two specific places in Queensland: Mount Elliot and Flinders Peak. It likes to grow in rocky cracks and small spaces on these mountains, especially in areas with a type of volcanic rock called trachyte.

How Was Zieria scopulus Named?

The scientific name Zieria scopulus was officially given to this plant in 2007. Two scientists, Marco Duretto and Paul Irwin Forster, described it after finding a sample on Mount Elliot near Ipswich. Their description was published in a scientific journal called Austrobaileya.

The second part of its name, scopulus, comes from a Latin word. It means "projecting rock, shelf, ledge, or cliff." This name was chosen because the plant grows in rocky places like cliffs and ledges.