Volume 16 Number 2
Issue Date: 23 November 2007
Permalink: https://doi.org/10.58828/niss00051
A new rare and geographically restricted Ptilotus (Amaranthaceae) from the Pilbara Bioregion of Western Australia
DAVIS, R.W., Nuytsia 16 (2): 265–268 (2007)
A distinctive, rare and geographically restricted species, Ptilotus subspinescens R.W. Davis (Amaranthaceae), is described from the Pilbara Bioregion of Western Australia. Ptilotus subspinescens is only known from several small populations adjacent to the Brockman mine site, 100 km west-south-west of Wittenoom.
Ficus carpentariensis - a new sandpaper fig for northern Australia and a revision of the F. opposita complex (Moraceae: Ficus subg. Ficus sect. Sycidium informal group F. copiosa)
DIXON, D.J., Nuytsia 16 (2): 269–284 (2007)
The Ficus opposita Miq. complex is revised. Four taxa in three species are recognized, F. opposita from Queensland and Papua New Guinea, Ficus aculeata Miq. with two varieties, one, var. aculeata occurring across the tropical north of Australia, the other, var. indecora (Miq.) D.J. Dixon restricted to the Northern Territory and Western Australia. A new species Ficus carpentariensis D.J. Dixon which is endemic to the Northern Territory is described. A key to identification is provided along with distribution and habitat and typification notes. Type material has been lectotypified where necessary.
A new species and a new combination in Acrotriche (Ericaceae: Styphelioideae: Styphelieae), with keys to the Western Australian members of the genus and its closest relative Lissanthe
HISLOP, M., Nuytsia 16 (2): 285–297 (2007)
Descriptions, illustrations and distribution maps are given for a new species, Acrotriche lancifolia Hislop and its closest relative A. patula R.Br. with which it has hitherto been confused. A lectotype is also selected for A. patula. A new combination, A. parviflora (Stschegl.) Hislop is made. The case is argued for the removal of A. depressa R.Br. from the West Australian plant census. Keys are provided at the generic level to separate Acrotriche R.Br. from Lissanthe R.Br. and at the species level for all Western Australian members of these two related genera.
Blackallia, Serichonus and Papistylus: three closely related genera of Rhamnaceae (Pomaderreae) from south-western Australia
KELLERMANN, J., RYE, B.L. AND THIELE, K.R., Nuytsia 16 (2): 299–316 (2007)
Recent molecular and morphological studies of Pomaderreae indicate that a number of species that have traditionally been of uncertain affinity require new genera. Blackallia C.A. Gardner is lectotypified and restricted to one species, B. nudiflora (F. Muell.) Rye & Kellermann, for which a new combination is made. Two new genera are described, Serichonus K.R. Thiele comprising the single species S. gracilipes (Diels) K.R. Thiele, and Papistylus Kellermann, Rye & K.R. Thiele with two species, P. grandiflorus (C.A. Gardner) Kellermann, Rye & K.R. Thiele and the new species P. intropubens Rye. All three genera are restricted to the South West Botanical Province of Western Australia. They are closely related but can be readily distinguished from one another by some significant morphological differences, especially in their inflorescences. A revised key to the genera of Pomaderreae is presented and lectotypes are chosen for B. nudiflora and S. gracilipes.
A new species of Hypoxis (Hypoxidaceae) from saline wetland margins in Western Australia
LYONS, M.N. AND KEIGHERY, G.J., Nuytsia 16 (2): 317–320 (2007)
A new species, Hypoxis salina Lyons & Keighery, is described and illustrated. The species is confined to the margins of naturally saline wetlands in the Mallee Bioregion of southern Western Australia.
Drosera gibsonii (Droseraceae), a new Pygmy Drosera from south-west Western Australia
MANN, P., Nuytsia 16 (2): 321–323 (2007)
Drosera gibsonii (Drosera subgenus Rorella section Lamprolepis) is described from the Stirling Range National Park. Its closest relative is Drosera silvicola Lowrie & Carlquist and the features that distinguish this taxon from Drosera gibsonii are presented together with its habitat preferences and conservation status.
New species and keys for Cryptandra and Stenanthemum (Rhamnaceae) in Western Australia
RYE, B.L., Nuytsia 16 (2): 325–382 (2007)
A generic key for the Rhamnaceae of central and southern Western Australia and keys to Western Australian members of Cryptandra Sm. and Stenanthemum Reissek are given. Two taxa previously described as varieties are raised to the species level with the new combination Cryptandra intermedia (Rye) Rye and the new name C. multispina Rye. The new taxa Cryptandra beverleyensis Rye, C. craigiae Rye, C. crispula Rye, C. dielsii C.A. Gardner ex Rye, C. exserta Rye, C. imbricata Rye, C. inconspicua Rye, C. pendula Rye, C. micrantha Rye, C. stellulata Rye, Stenanthemum bremerense Rye, S. pumilum subsp. majus Rye, S. radiatum Rye and S. yorkense Rye are described. Lectotypes are selected for Cryptandra connata C.A. Gardner and for the base name of Cryptandra sect. Wichurea Benth. Some of the newly named taxa are illustrated, distribution maps are given for the south-western species of Cryptandra and new taxa in Stenanthemum, and the distribution patterns of the south-western genera are discussed in relation to their morphology. There is also a generic description for Cryptandra, and new data are given for a few of the previously described taxa in both genera.
Tecticornia bibenda (Chenopodiaceae: Salicornioideae), a new C4 samphire from the Little Sandy Desert, Western Australia
SHEPHERD, K.A. AND VAN LEEUWEN, S., Nuytsia 16 (2): 383–391 (2007)
Tecticornia bibenda K.A. Sheph. & S.J. van Leeuwen, a new species of conservation significance is described and illustrated. Previously Tecticornia indica (Willd.) K.A. Sheph. & Paul G. Wilson (formerly Halosarcia indica (Willd.) Paul G. Wilson) was the only member of the Salicornioideae that was known to have a modified Kranz anatomy indicative of the C4 photosynthetic pathway. Anatomical evidence indicates that T. bibenda shares a similar modifi ed anatomy. While T. bibenda is related to T. indica, it is distinguished by the presence of unusually large vegetative and fertile articles and having paired cymes of (4)5–7 flowers rather than the more typical 3-flowered cymes. This species is restricted to the flood zones and fringing spinifex/samphire heath of several gypsiferous playa and salt lake systems in the Little Sandy Desert of Western Australia. Due to its restricted distribution this species has a Priority three conservation status.
A revision of the Western Australian genus Agonis (Myrtaceae) and two new segregate genera Taxandria and Paragonis
WHEELER, J.R. AND MARCHANT, N.G., Nuytsia 16 (2): 393–433 (2007)
Two new genera, Taxandria (Benth.) J.R. Wheeler & N.G. Marchant (11 species) and the monotypic Paragonis J.R.Wheeler & N.G. Marchant are segregated from Agonis (DC.) Sweet s. str. (4 species). The three genera are revised; all are endemic to the south-west of Western Australia and together comprise 16 species. Two new species are described, two species reinstated and several new combinations and lectotypifications are made. Keys are provided to the three genera and their taxa. All taxa are illustrated and mapped.
Puccinellia (Poaceae) in Western Australia
WILLIAMS, A.R., Nuytsia 16 (2): 435–467 (2007)
Two new native species, Puccinellia longior and P. vassica, have been identified from Western Australia. P. longior is restricted to the outer edges of salt lakes and salt-affected pasture land along the lower western margin of the southwest wheatbelt region in WA, and has also been collected from a saline wetland reserve in southeast South Australia. P. vassica is endemic to the outer edges of marine saltmarsh in reserved areas of the Leschenault Inlet near Bunbury. It was previously known from the nearby Vasse-Wonnerup saltmarsh near Busselton but is now extinct there because engineering works have reduced the marine influence in the estuary. It may be on the verge of extinction in the Leschenault Inlet also because (a) it lives on the outer edge of the high tide influence and is thus prone to weed invasion from non-saline areas, (b) its culms disintegrate almost entirely each year so it provides little resistance to competition, and (c) it has a low recruitment rate, with only a few scattered plants surviving at each site. The most common species is Puccinellia stricta, which occurs on the margins of salt lakes and salt-affected pastoral land throughout the southwest wheatbelt region, from Hutt River in the north to the Esperance region in the east. WA collections of this species differ from those elsewhere in southern Australasia, but in a continuous way that did not easily yield taxonomic distinction. The main source of variation is probably that the WA habitats all have to endure long summer drought each year. The agriculturally introduced Middle-Eastern species P. ciliata is well naturalized in saline lands in southwest WA, and a single collection of the introduced P. gigantea is recorded. Other introduced species appear to have not survived.
Occurrence and status of Pentapogon quadrifidus (Poaceae) in Western Australia
MACFARLANE, T.D. AND HEARN, R.W., Nuytsia 16 (2): 469–471 (2007)
Pentapogon quadrifidus is thus known from three separate locations where it grows in consistent habitats among native vegetation in good condition. At each site it is scattered through the vegetation at varying densities but never dominating. From this pattern we concluded that the species is most likely to be native to Western Australia. We assume that it has been overlooked because it occurs in only a few sites, is inconspicuous, and superfi cially resembles Austrodanthonia species, especially A. setacea. Because of its apparently localised distribution it had a Priority 1 conservation rating for Western Australia in Atkins (2006). It is now considered to carry a Conservation Code for Western Australian Flora: Priority 2 following the discovery of the population in a nature reserve. This survey has achieved some of the management requirements listed for this species by Hearn et al. (2006).
Agrostis castellana (Poaceae) mis-identified as A. capillaris var. aristata in Western Australia
MACFARLANE, T.D. AND WILLIAMS, A.R., Nuytsia 16 (2): 472 (2007)
In the process of assisting with the updating of Western Weeds: a Guide to the Weeds of Western Australia (Hussey & Keighery 1997) we became aware that Batson (1998) had identified Agrostis castellana Bois. et Reuter as the dominant species in ‘bent grass’ pastures in South-eastern Australia, which had previously been reported as being dominated by A. capillaris L. (syn. A. tenuis Sibth.).
Recombinations in Western Australian Orchidaceae 1
THIELE, K.R. AND BROWN, A.P., Nuytsia 16 (2): 473–474 (2007)
Two new species from Western Australia were recently described under the segregate genera Hydrorchis (Jones and Brockman 2005) (= Microtis) and Oligochaetochilus (Jones 2004) (= Pterostylis). This paper provides the necessary recombinations of these new taxa into the genera accepted at PERTH, in order that they may be dealt with adequately in Western Australia. Future short communications in this series will deal with any further taxa so described, until a broadly accepted consensus is reached with respect to the boundaries of these genera.
Further recombinations of Dryandra into Banksia
THIELE, K.R. AND MAST, A.R., Nuytsia 16 (2): 475 (2007)
Mast and Thiele (2007), in order to resolve a problem caused by the paraphyly of Dryandra with respect to Banksia, reduced the former genus to a synonym of the latter, and published new combinations for the majority of Dryandra taxa in Banksia. However, a paper by George (2005), describing one new species and five new infraspecies of Dryandra, was overlooked at the time. Accordingly, these taxa require new combinations in Banksia.
