Boronia laxa explained

Boronia laxa is a plant in the citrus family Rutaceae and is endemic to a small area in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is a low-lying, short-lived shrub with hairy branches, leaves and flower parts, simple leaves and white to mauve flowers with the sepals longer and wider than the petals.

Description

Boronia laxa is a semi-prostrate, short-lived shrub that typically grows to about 50sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 high and 1.5sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide with many branches. Its branches, leaves and some flower parts are covered with star-like hairs. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, simple, elliptic, NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long and NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide on a petiole NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long. The flowers are white to pink or mauve on a pedicel NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long. The sepals are lance-shaped to egg-shaped, NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long and NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide and the petals are NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long and NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide. The sepals and petals enlarge as the fruit develops. Flowering occurs mainly from January to June.[1] [2]

Taxonomy and naming

Boronia laxa was first formally described in 1997 by Marco F. Duretto who published the description in Australian Systematic Botany.[3] The specific epithet (laxa) is a Latin word meaning "loose", "slack" or "unstrung".[4]

Distribution and habitat

Boronia laxa grows in sandstone heath and woodland on Mount Brockman in Kakadu National Park and on the nearby Arnhem Plateau.

Notes and References

  1. Duretto . Marco F. . Systematics of Boronia section Valvatae sensu lato (Rutaceae) . Muelleria . 1999 . 12 . 1 . 98–99 . 7 February 2019 . 6 April 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200406125654/https://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/documents/Pages_from_Muelleria_12(1),_p87-131,_Duretto,_Sytematics_Boronia-3.pdf . dead .
  2. Web site: Boronia laxa . Northern Territory Government flora online . 29 March 2019.
  3. Web site: Boronia laxa. APNI. 29 March 2019.
  4. Book: Brown. Roland Wilbur. The Composition of Scientific Words. 1956. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, D.C.. 353.