''Zieria inexpectata'' is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and endemic to south-eastern Queensland. It is a small, compact shrub with erect, wiry branches, three-part leaves and groups of up to twelve white flowers, the groups longer than the leaves and the flowers with 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 ...

s and four

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. It was unexpectedly discovered by the authors during a field trip and its discovery led to a paper describing the zierias of Queensland, including sixteen new species.

Description

''Zieria inexpectata'' is a shrub which grows to a height of and has erect, wiry branches with scattered hairs. The leaves are composed of three narrow elliptic to narrow lance-shaped leaflets with the narrower end towards the base. The leaves have a petiole long and the central leaflet is long and wide. Both sides of the leaflets are slightly hairy. The flowers are white and are arranged in groups of up to twelve 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 stalk long. The sepals are egg-shaped to triangular, long and about wide and the four petals are elliptic in shape, long and about wide, sparsely hairy on the upper surface and densely hairy below. The four stamens are about long. Flowering occurs from March to November and is followed by fruit from June which is a more or less glabrous capsule about long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

''Zieria inexpectata'' was first formally described in 2007 by

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 Paul Irwin Forster from a specimen collected near Gayndah and the description was published in '' Austrobaileya''. 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 ...

(''inexpectata'') refers to the unexpected discovery of this species whilst the authors were studying an undescribed species of '' Boronia'' on a field trip. The discovery lead to a paper on the zierias of Queensland, including sixteen new species.

Distribution and habitat

This zieria grows in sandy soil in woodland in south-east Queensland, including the central Burnett district, and near Proston and Wondai.

Conservation

''Zieria inexpectata'' is classed as "endangered" under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18083415 inexpectata Sapindales of Australia Flora of Queensland Taxa named by Marco Duretto Plants described in 2007 Taxa named by Paul Irwin Forster