''Zieria robusta'', commonly known as round-leafed zieria, is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic 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 an erect, bushy shrub with leaves composed of three leaflets which are egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base. The flowers are pink to white and arranged in groups of up to nine and have 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 ...

Description

''Zieria robusta'' is an erect, compact and bushy shrub which grows to a height of . Its branches are ridged, rough and partly hairy and its leaves are composed of three egg-shaped leaflets with the narrower end towards the base. The leaflets are long and wide and the leaf has petiole long. The leaves are glabrous with margins which are more or less wavy and the upper surface is darker than the lower one. The flowers are arranged in groups of mostly five to nine 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 and the groups are usually longer than the leaves. The four sepal lobes are roughly triangular, about long, the four petals are white to pink, about long and in common with other zierias, there are only four

s. Flowering mainly occurs in spring and summer and is followed by fruit which is a follicle dotted with oil glands and slightly rough.

Taxonomy and naming

''Zieria robusta'' was first formally described in 1911 by Joseph Maiden and

Ernst Betche Daniel Ludwig Ernst Betche (31 December 1851, in Potsdam – 28 June 1913, in Sydney) was a German-Australian horticulturist and botanist. His mother died at his birth and he was of delicate constitution all his life. His father was sufficiently ...

from a specimen collected on Mount Werong in the Blue Mountains National Park. The description was published in ''

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884. History The Society succ ...

''. 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 ...

(''robusta'') is a Latin word meaning "hard or strong like oak".

Distribution and habitat

This zieria grows in heath on exposed, rocky outcrops south from the

Warrumbungles The Warrumbungles is a mountain range in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The nearest town is Coonabarabran. The area is easiest accessed from the Newell Highway which is the major road link directly between Melbourne, Victo ...

in New South Wales and near the Moroka River in Victoria.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18084390 robusta Sapindales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Plants described in 1911