''Boronia keysii'', commonly known as Keys boronia, is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in Australia. It is a sprawling shrub with thin stems, hairy young shoots,

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and ...

leaves and pink, four-

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

led flowers over a long period.

Description

''Boronia keysii'' is an open, thin-stemmed, sprawling shrub that typically grows to a height and width of about . The young stems are covered with brownish, star-shaped hairs. It has pinnate leaves with a single, or three, five or seven leaflets long, wide in outline. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs and lack a

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

. The leaflets are elliptic to lance-shaped, the end leaflet long and wide and longer than the side leaflets. The flowers are arranged in groups of between three and six on a peduncle long, the individual flowers on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long. The four

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s are egg-shaped to triangular, long with a hairy back. The four petals are deep rose pink to white, long and and hairy on the back. There are eight

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s with the four nearest the sepals slightly long than the four near the petals. Flowering occurs throughout the year but mostly from May to November. The fruit is a capsule long and wide containing four black seeds.

Taxonomy and naming

''Boronia keysii'' was first formally described in 1926 by

Karel Domin Karel Domin (4 May 1882 – 10 June 1953) was a Czech botanist and politician. Biography Domin was 4 May 1882, Kutná Hora, Kingdom of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary. After gymnasium school studies in Příbram, he studied botany at the Charles Uni ...

from specimens collected by James Keys at

Lake Cootharaba Lake Cootharaba is a lake on the Noosa River within the locality of Noosa North Shore in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. It is the gateway to the Everglades, a popular tourist attraction for Noosa, being 20 km away from Noosa ...

in 1909. The description was published in the journal ''Bibliotheca Botanica'' published in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

under the heading ''Beitrage zur Flora und Pflanzengeographie Australiens'' (Contributions to the Flora and Plant Geography of Australia). The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''keysii'') honours the collector of the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

specimen.

Distribution and habitat

Key's boronia is usually found in the

ecotone An ecotone is a transitional area between two plant communities, where these meet and integrate. Examples include areas between grassland and forest, estuaries and lagoon, freshwater and sea water etc. An ecotone may be narrow or wide, and it ma ...

between forest and heath and commonly as an understorey species in open forest. It is only known from the Cooloola region near

Conservation

''Boronia keysii'' is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

and the Queensland Government

Nature Conservation Act 1992 The ''Nature Conservation Act 1992'' is an act of the Parliament of Queensland, Australia, that, together with subordinate legislation, provides for the legislative protection of Queensland's threatened biota. As originally published, it prov ...

. The main threats to the species include changes to the water table, inappropriate fire regimes and invasion by exotic pines from nearby plantations.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15392452 keysii Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1926 Taxa named by Karel Domin