Plants of
South Australia
Zieria veronicea ssp. insularis
Rutaceae
Pink Zieria
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
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Extinct
Data deficient
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Arkaroola
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Hawker
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

Prior names

Zieria veronicea, partly

Etymology

Zieria named by Sir James E. Smith in honour of his friend Jan Zier (d. 1796), a Polish botanist who died in London. Veronicea was selected by Mueller (1879) who described the original species, to indicate the external resemblance of this taxon to some Veronica or speedwells. Insularis from Latin meaning pertaining to or growing on islands, referring to the species occurring only on Kangaroo Island.

Distribution and status

Endemic to South Australia and found only on Kangaroo Island, growing in shrubland on deep, white sandy soil. Native. Very rare in South Australia.
Herbarium region: Kangaroo Island
NRM region: Kangaroo Island
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Small lemon-scented perennial shrub to 60 cm high with densely hairy stems. Leaves oblong to ovate to 15.5 mm long and 5.5 mm wide, opposite, rarely 3 in a whorl, sessile or on extremely short pubescent petioles to 0.7 mm long, lamina discolorous, hairy on both surfaces but more densely so on the undersurface, margin entire, recurved to revolute. Inflorescence in leaf axis, generally not exceeding the leaves on hairy stalk to 14 mm long, with pale-pink or very occasionally white flowers. Flowering between September and November. Fruits are brown papery-capsules in cluster. Seeds are mottled black and white, striated, to 3.5 mm long and 1.5 mm wide. Seed embryo type is linear, fully developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between December and January. Collect capsules that are turning brown, with dark seeds in each segment. Keep an eye on the developing capsules as they will split and release the seed quickly. An option is to enclose the developing capsules with a small breathable bag. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for a week. Then rub the pods with your hands to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. Seed viability is usually low with high seed predation. This species is generally difficult to germinate, it has morphophysiological dormancy and complex germination requirements.

Fire Response

Obligate re-seeder, no re-sprouting observed.

Longevity: >10 years

Time to flowering: 2 years

Recovery work

In 2020-2021 this species was assessed post-fire in 1 year and 2 year old fire scars. A total of 660 seeds have been collected & banked for a population outside the 2020 fire scar from Mt Taylor CP. Further populations will be assessed and seeds collected on Kangaroo Island in 2021–2022. Germination screening testing the response to fire cues will be undertaken in 2021.This project was supported by the Project Phoenix program.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA660 (2.470 g)11-Jan-2021DJD3977
Kangaroo Island
28-Jun-202190%-18°C
BGA5,000 (18.760 g)50+4-Jan-2022JRG829
Kangaroo Island
7-Jul-2022100%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.