''Cyanothamnus polygalifolius'', commonly known as dwarf boronia, milkwort-leaved boronia or milkwort boronia, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a low-lying shrub with simple leaves and white or pink flowers arranged singly or in groups of up to three in leaf

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

Description

''Cyanothamnus polygalifolius'' is a low-lying, spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of about with its branches also about long. The plant is glabrous, apart from the flowers . The leaves are simple, usually sessile, linear to elliptic, long and wide with the edges down-curved or rolled under. There is usually only one, but sometimes up to three flowers arranged in groups in the leaf

s on a pedicel long. The four sepals are egg-shaped to triangular, long, long and glabrous. The four

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are pink or white, long with their bases overlapping. The eight

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s have hairy edges. Flowering mainly occurs from September to January and the fruit is a glabrous capsule long.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1798 by James Edward Smith who gave it the name''Boronia polygalifolia'' in his book 'Tracts relating to natural history''. In a 2013 paper in the journal '' Taxon'',

Marco Duretto Marco Duretto (born 1964) is a manager and senior research scientist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney in Australia. His primary research interests are systematics and conservation of Rutaceae, Rubiaceae, Orchidaceae, Stylidiaceae and evo ...

and others changed the name to ''Cyanothamnus polygalifolius'' on the basis of cladistic analysis. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''polygalifolius'') is a reference to the similarity of the leaves of this species to those in the genus '' Polygala''.

Distribution and habitat

Dwarf boronia grows in open forest, woodland and heath between the Blackdown Tableland and

Kroombit Tops Kroombit Tops is a national park in Central Queensland, Australia. It is between Monto and Calliope. It is two parts. The largest part is within the localities of Tablelands, Valentine Plains, Cania and Boyne Valley, while the smaller part ...

in Queensland and Moruya and Geehi in New South Wales. A single specimen has been recorded in eastern Victoria.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q106902231 polygalifolius Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1798 Taxa named by James Edward Smith