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

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Rutaceae The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in BoDD – Botanical Derm ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...

to eastern

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 a prostrate or low spreading shrub with simple or three-part leaves and white or pale pink 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 ...

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 (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") 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 ...

as they age. The leaves are simple or

trifoliate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

on a petiole 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 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 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 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

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 (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 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 botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he ...

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

Ronald Campbell Gunn Ronald Campbell Gunn, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, (4 April 1808 – 13 March 1881) was a South African-born Australian Botany, botanist and politician. Early life Gunn was born at Cape Town, Cape Colony, (now South Africa), the son of W ...

on top of

Rocky Cape Rocky Cape National Park is a national park on the North West Coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is located at a geographical headland and surrounds the town of Sisters Beach. It is located approximately 365 km by car northwest of State ...

. In a 2013 paper in the journal ''

Taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural 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 nam ...

'',

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 evolut ...

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

cladistic analysis Cladistics (; ) 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 typically shared derived chara ...

. The names of three varieties have been accepted by the

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

: * ''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 ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

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

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, the far southeast corner of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and the eastern half of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

; * ''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 (''Am Monadh'' in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic) 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. T ...

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), 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 main hybrid gr ...

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