''Cyanothamnus nanus'', commonly known as the dwarf boronia or small boronia is a plant in the citrus

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Rutaceae The Rutaceae () is a family (biology), family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in Bo ...

and 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 ...

to eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is a prostrate or low spreading shrub with simple or three-part leaves and white or pale 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. Boronia nana pubescens

Description

''Cyanothamnus nanus'' is a prostrate shrub or one that has weak, spreading branches and grows to about wide and high. Its youngest branches have a few soft hairs but become

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

as they age. The leaves are simple or

trifoliate The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets ...

on 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 ...

up to long. The leaves or leaflets are linear to elliptic or egg-shaped, long and wide. The flowers are white to pale pink and are arranged singly or in groups of up to three or more in leaf

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

s, the groups on a peduncle long, 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 ...

. 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 triangular to broadly egg-shaped, long and wide, overlapping at their bases. The four

s are long, wide and overlap at their bases. The

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 are covered with long, soft hairs. Flowering occurs from October to February.

Taxonomy and naming

Dwarf boronia was first formally described in 1840 by

William Jackson Hooker Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botany, botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew Gardens, Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botan ...

who gave it the name ''Boronia nana'' in ''Icones Plantarum'' from a specimen collected by

Ronald Campbell Gunn Ronald Campbell Gunn, FRS, (4 April 1808 – 13 March 1881) was a Cape Colony-born Tasmanian botanist and politician. Early life Gunn was born at Cape Town, Cape Colony, (now South Africa), the son of William Gunn, lieutenant in the British A ...

on top of Rocky Cape. In a 2013 paper in the journal ''

Taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

'',

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 evoluti ...

and others changed the name to ''Cyanothamnus nanus'' on the basis of

cladistic analysis Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

. The names of three varieties have been accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

: * ''Cyanothamnus nanus'' var. ''hyssopifolius'' has simple leaves; * ''Cyanothamnus nanus'' var. ''nanus'' (the

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

) has mostly trifoliate leaves, mostly

leaves, sepals and petals; * ''Cyanothamnus nanus'' var. ''pubescens'' has mostly trifoliate leaves with short, soft hairs.

Distribution and habitat

* ''Cyanothamnus nanus'' var. ''hyssopifolius'' grows in woodland, forest and heath and is the only variety of ''B. nana'' in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

where it is found south from the Blue Mountains, but also occurs in central and eastern areas of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, the far southeast corner of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

and the eastern half of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

; * ''Cyanothamnus nanus'' var. ''nanus'' grows in heath and heathy woodland, and occurs mostly in the south-west of Victoria and in the far south-east of

; * ''Cyanothamnus nanus'' var. ''pubescens'' grows in rocky soils in open forest, woodland and heath and mainly occurs between the

Grampians The Grampian Mountains () is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian range extends northeast to so ...

and Lexton in Victoria and in the far south-east of South Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q106902082, from2=Q106902129, from3=Q106902174

nanus Nanus may refer to: * Nanus (beetle), ''Nanus'' (beetle), a genus of true weevils * Susan Nanus, the scriptwriter for the 1998 ''A Will of their Own'' romantic drama TV mini-series aired on the NBC network * Fort Nanus in Goa, India * one of the m ...

Flora of New South Wales Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of Tasmania Plants described in 1840 Taxa named by William Jackson Hooker