SPECIES: Boronia subulifolia — Awl-leaved Boronia
CLASSIFICATION: Endangered
The Awl-leaved Boronia is a small shrub that’s found only in a tiny pocket of south-eastern New South Wales. Growing up to around a metre tall, it has slender, awl-shaped leaves and produces delicate four-petalled flowers in shades of pink to deep rose. It favours rocky slopes in dry forest and heath, where the shallow, nutrient-poor soils and open light conditions suit its needs perfectly. With such a limited range and specialised habitat, it’s a plant that many people will never see in the wild, making it all the more special.
Its restricted distribution leaves it vulnerable to a range of pressures, including habitat loss, inappropriate fire regimes, weed invasion, and potential impacts from climate change that may alter rainfall and temperature patterns in its fragile ecosystem. Even small disturbances in its range can have significant effects on population numbers, and recovery can be slow.
Photo: M Fagg