Tetratheca sp. Mt Solus (F. Obbens 307/98) (Elaeocarpaceae) is not distinct from Tetratheca affinis
BUTCHER, R.
Tetratheca sp. Mt Solus (F. Obbens 307/98) was collected once from Mt Solus, in the Darling Range, in November 1998 but has never been relocated. This taxon was distinguished from T. affinis Endl. by its possession of only one ovule per loculus, compared with four or five ovules per loculus, as well as its geographic disjunction. Close examination of all specimens of T. affinis at PERTH has found that ovule number per loculus varies from one to five, and that Tetratheca sp. Mt Solus (F. Obbens 307/ 98) does not have any unique morphological features supporting its distinction from T. affinis. By contrast,three specimens of T. affinis from near Cape Riche were found to have a suite of subtle differences from typical T. affinis and have been placed on the Western Australian Plant Census as T. affinis subsp. Cape Riche (T.D. Macfarlane TDM 1832) pending further fieldwork and taxonomic study.
