''Boronia filicifolia'' is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae and is endemic to the far north-west of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is an erect or sprawling shrub with many branches, pinnate leaves with up to 55 leaflets and white to pink flowers with the sepals a similar length to the

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 ...

Description

''Boronia filicifolia'' is an erect or sprawling shrub that grows to a height of with pinnate leaves that are mostly long and wide in outline with mostly between thirty and fifty five leaflets. The end leaflet is lance-shaped, long and wide and the side leaflets are longer, long and wide. The flowers are 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 ...

s. The four sepals and the four petals are white to pink and a similar length to each other, long, the sepals wide and the petals slightly narrower. 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 are hairy. Flowering occurs from January to June and the fruit is a glabrous capsule about long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

''Boronia filicifolia'' was first formally described in 1863 by George Bentham from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham and the description was published in '' Flora Australiensis'' from a specimen collected by Cunningham near

York Sound York Sound is a sound located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia opening into the Indian Ocean. The sound is bounded by Cape Pond to the North and Hardey Point with the Coronation Islands to the South. The nearest populated town to the ...

. 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 ...

(''filicifolia'') is derived from the Latin ''filix, filicis'' meaning "a fern" and ''-folius'' meaning "leaved", referring to the fern-like leaves.

Distribution and habitat

''Boronia filicifolia'' is a poorly-known plant that grows in heath and open woodland on sandstone and quartzite and occurs in the catchment of the

Mitchell River Mitchell River may refer to: Australia *Mitchell River (Queensland) *Mitchell River (Victoria) *Mitchell River (Western Australia) Canada *Mitchell River (Cross River) *Mitchell River (Quesnel River tributary) United States *Mitchell River (Mass ...

and in the Port Warrender area of the western

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region.

Conservation

''Boronia filicifolia'' is classified as " Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15388531 filicifolia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1863 Taxa named by Allan Cunningham (botanist) Flora of the Northern Territory