Zieria whitei
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Zieria whitei | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Rutaceae |
| Genus: | Zieria |
| Species: | Z. whitei |
| Binomial name | |
| Zieria whitei | |
Zieria whitei is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area of north Queensland. It is a dense, compact shrub with erect wiry branches, three-part leaves and groups of up to three white to pale pink flowers with four petals and four stamens. It is only known from two populations.
Zieria whitei is a dense compact shrub which grows to a height of 0.5 m (2 ft) and has erect, wiry branches which are more or less hairy when young. The leaves are composed of three narrow elliptic to narrow egg-shaped leaflets with the narrower end towards the base, 5–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long and 1–3 mm (0.04–0.1 in) wide with a petiole 1 mm (0.04 in) long or less. The upper surface of the leaves may have a few hairs but the lower surface is moderately densely hairy. The flowers are white or pale pink and are mostly arranged in groups of three in leaf axils, each flower on a hairy stalk 3–14 mm (0.1–0.6 in) long. The groups of flowers are usually longer than the leaves. The sepals are egg-shaped to triangular, about 2 mm (0.08 in) long and 1–2 mm (0.04–0.08 in) wide. The four petals are white to pale pink, elliptic in shape, about 3 mm (0.1 in) long, 1.5 mm (0.06 in) wide, with the outer surface densely covered with soft hairs. and the four stamens are about 1 mm (0.04 in) long. Flowering occurs between May and July and is followed by fruits which are glabrous capsules, about 3.5 mm (0.1 in) long and 2 mm (0.08 in) wide.[2]