''Zieria'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of plants in the

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 ...

. About sixty species have been formally described, all of which are

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 ...

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 ...

except for one species which is found in

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. They occur in all Australian states except

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

but the genus is under review and a number of species are yet to be described or the description published. Zierias are similar to the better known genus '' Boronia'' but can be distinguished by the number of

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 in the flowers. The name ''Zieria'' honours the Polish botanist John Zier.

Description

Plants in the genus ''Zieria'' are shrubs or small trees. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs and are usually compound with three leaflets similar in shape but the middle leaflet slightly larger. The flowers are arranged in groups in the leaf axils and have four fused

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 and 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 ...

s alternating with the sepals. There are four

s (eight in '' Boronia'') and four

carpels Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ...

with their styles fused. The fruit have four lobes, each containing one or two seeds.

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Zieria'' was first formally described in 1798 by James Edward Smith and the description was published in

Transactions of the Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

. Smith did not nominate a

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

but James Armstrong nominated ''

Zieria smithii ''Zieria smithii'', commonly known as sandfly zieria, lanoline bush or Smithian zieria, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to eastern and south-eastern Australia. It is a robust shrub with its leaves composed of three leafl ...

'' as the

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes ...

. The name ''Zieria'' honours "John Zier, a Polish botanist, who assisted F.C. Ehrhart in his collection of plants of the Electorate of Hanover, 1780-83, and afterwards worked in London, where he died in 1793."Will of John Ziers. England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858. Ancestry.com In a 2002 study of the genus, James Armstrong placed each species into one of six groups, based on its

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

. The groups are: * Group A: ''Z. adenodonta'', ''Z. adenophora'', ''Z. buxijugum'', ''Z. collina'', ''Z. floydii'', ''Z. formosa'', ''Z. furfuracea'', ''Z. granulata'', ''Z. hindii'', ''Z. obcordata'', ''Z. parrisiae'', ''Z. robusta'', ''Z. tuberculata'', ''Z. verrucosa''; * Group B: ''Z. arborescens'', ''Z. caducibracteata'', ''Z. lasiocaulis'', ''Z. oreocena'', ''Z. southwellii''; * Group C: ''Z. chevalieri'', ''Z. fraseri'', ''Z. laevigata'', ''Z. laxiflora''; * Group D: ''Z. montana'', ''Z. prostrata'', ''Z. robertsiorum'', ''Z. smithii''; * Group E: ''Z. aspalathoides'', ''Z. citriodora'', ''Z. ingramii'', ''Z. minutiflora'', ''Z. obovata'', ''Z. odorifera'', ''Z. pilosa'', ''Z. rimulosa''; * Group F: ''Z. baeuerlenii'', ''Z. covenyi'', ''Z. cytisoides'', ''Z. involucrata'', ''Z. littoralis'', ''Z. murphyi'', ''Z. veronicea''. In a 2015 study, using a combination of two non-coding

chloroplast A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle, organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant cell, plant and algae, algal cells. Chloroplasts have a high concentration of chlorophyll pigments which captur ...

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

regions,

Internal transcribed spacer Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) is the spacer DNA situated between the small-subunit ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and large-subunit rRNA genes in the chromosome or the corresponding transcribed region in the polycistronic rRNA precursor transcript. ...

and some morphological characters,

Cynthia Morton Cynthia Casson Morton (born August 1, 1955) is an American geneticist, professor at Harvard Medical School, and director of cytogenetics at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Biography Morton graduated in 1973 from Maryland's Easton High School and in ...

concluded that the genus as presently described is

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

. A tentative arrangement of 32 of Armstrong's 42 species was also suggested: * Group 1: ''Z. adenodonta'', ''Z. baeuerlenii'', ''Z. collina'', ''Z. cytisoides''; * Group 2: ''Z. buxijugum'', ''Z. caducibracteata'', ''Z. formosa'', ''Z. granulata'', ''Z. littoralis'', ''Z. parrisiae'', ''Z. tuberculata'', ''Z. verrucosa''; * Group 3: ''Z. fraseri'', ''Z. odorifera''; * Group 4: ''Z. prostrata'', ''Z. smithii''; * Group 5: ''Z. aspalathoides'', ''Z. ingramii''; * Group 6: ''Z. adenophora'', ''Z. furfuracea'', ''Z. laxiflora''; * Group 7: ''Z. montana'', ''Z. southwellii''; * Group 8: ''Z. covenyi'', ''Z. murphyi'', ''Z. odorifera'', ''Z. robusta''. ''Zieria citriodora'', ''Z. arborescens'', ''Z. minutiflora'', ''Z. obcordata'' and ''Z. pilosa'' were not able to be resolved in this study.

Distribution

Plants in the genus ''Zieria'' are endemic to Australia, except for '' Zieria chevalieri'', which is found in New Caledonia. Zierias occur in all Australian states except Western Australia.

Species list

The species described to date (October 2017) and listed by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Sys ...

are: *'' Zieria actites'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *'' Zieria adenodonta'' ( F.Muell.) J.A.Armstr. – Wollumbin zieria *'' Zieria adenophora'' Blakely – Araluen zieria *'' Zieria alata'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *''

Zieria arborescens ''Zieria arborescens'', commonly known as the tree zieria or stinkwood, is a plant in the citrus Family (biology), family Rutaceae and is endemism, endemic to eastern Australia. It is a bushy shrub or small tree with branches that are ridged a ...

'' Sims – stinkwood *'' Zieria aspalathoides'' A.Cunn. ex

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

– whorled zieria *'' Zieria baeuerlenii'' J.A.Armstr. – Bomaderry zieria *'' Zieria bifida'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *'' Zieria boolbunda'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. – Box Range zieria *'' Zieria buxijugum'' J.D.Briggs & J.A.Armstr. *'' Zieria caducibracteata'' J.A.Armstr. *'' Zieria cephalophila'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *'' Zieria chevalieri'' Virot – endemic to New Caledonia *'' Zieria citriodora'' J.A.Armstr. – lemon-scented zieria *'' Zieria collina'' C.T.White – hill zieria *'' Zieria compacta'' C.T.White *'' Zieria covenyi'' J.A.Armstr. – Coveny's zieria *'' Zieria cytisoides'' Sm. – downy zieria *'' Zieria distans'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *'' Zieria eungellaensis'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *'' Zieria exsul'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *''

Zieria floydii ''Zieria'' is a genus of plants in the Family (biology), family, Rutaceae. About sixty species have been formally described, all of which are Endemism, endemic to Australia except for one species which is found in New Caledonia. They occur in a ...

'' J.A.Armstr. – Floyd's zieria *'' Zieria formosa'' J.D.Briggs & J.A.Armstr. – shapely zieria *'' Zieria fraseri'' Hook. *'' Zieria furfuracea'' R.Br. ex

*'' Zieria graniticola'' J.A.Armstr. ex Duretto & P.I.Forst. *'' Zieria granulata'' C.Moore ex

– Illawarra zieria, hill zieria *'' Zieria hindii'' J.A.Armstr. – Hind's zieria *'' Zieria hydroscopica'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *'' Zieria inexpectata'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *'' Zieria ingramii'' J.A.Armstr – Keith's zieria *'' Zieria insularis'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *'' Zieria involucrata'' R.Br. ex

*'' Zieria laevigata'' Bonpl. – smooth zieria, twiggy midge bush *'' Zieria lasiocaulis'' – J.A.Armstr. Willi Willi zieria *'' Zieria laxiflora'' (

) Domin – wallum zieria *'' Zieria littoralis'' J.A.Armstr. – dwarf zieria *'' Zieria madida'' Duretto & P.I.Forst *'' Zieria minutiflora'' Domin – twiggy zieria *'' Zieria montana'' J.A.Armstr. *'' Zieria murphyi'' Blakely – Murphy's zieria *'' Zieria obcordata'' A.Cunn. – obcordate-leafed zieria *'' Zieria obovata'' (C.T.White) J.A.Armstr. *'' Zieria odorifera'' J.A.Armstr. *'' Zieria oreocena'' J.A.Armstr. – Grampians zieria *'' Zieria parrisiae'' J.D.Briggs & J.A.Armstr. – Parris' zieria *'' Zieria pilosa'' Rudge – hairy zieria *''

Zieria prostrata ''Zieria prostrata '' commonly known as headland zieria, is a plant in the citrus Family (biology), family Rutaceae and is endemism, endemic to the Coffs Harbour district in New South Wales. It is a wikt:prostrate, prostrate shrub with leaves com ...

'' J.A.Armstr. – headland zieria *'' Zieria rimulosa'' C.T.White *'' Zieria robertsiorum'' J.A.Armstr. *'' Zieria robusta'' Maiden & Betche – round-leafed zieria *'' Zieria scopulus'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *''

'' Jacks. – sandfly zieria *'' Zieria southwellii'' J.A.Armstr. *'' Zieria tenuis'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *'' Zieria tuberculata'' J.A.Armstr. *'' Zieria vagans'' Duretto & P.I.Forst. *'' Zieria veronicea'' ( F.Muell.)

– pink zieria *'' Zieria verrucosa'' J.A.Armstr. *'' Zieria whitei'' J.A.Armstr. ex Duretto & P.I.Forst.

Conservation

'' Zieria parrisiae'' is listed as "critically endangered" 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 ...

''. A further eleven are listed as "endangered" and eight as "vulnerable".

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q785572 Zanthoxyloideae genera