Carnarvonia

Carnarvonia
Foliage
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Subfamily: Grevilleoideae
Genus: Carnarvonia
Species: C. araliifolia
Binomial name
Carnarvonia araliifolia
F.Muell.[1][2]

Carnarvonia is a flowering plant genus of a single species, commonly named red oak or red silky oak and constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae. The single species named Carnarvonia araliifolia grows to large trees of 30 m (100 ft) or more. They grow naturally only (endemic) in the Wet Tropics rainforests region of north-eastern Queensland, Australia.[3][4][5][6] The species has two described varieties, C. araliifolia var. araliifolia and C. araliifolia var. montana, and the common names are used for both.[2][4][5][6]

C. araliifolia var. araliifolia grows naturally in the lowlands and up to the lower parts of the uplands, from about 50 to 1,000 m (160 to 3,280 ft) altitude.[4][6] The trees are recorded as developing into the largest size on basalt derived fertile soils.[4]

C. araliifolia var. montana grows naturally in the uplands, tablelands and mountains of the region, from about 650 to 1,300 m (2,130 to 4,270 ft) altitude, with its variety name referring to mountains.[5][6]

Taxonomy and naming

In 1867, the colonial botanist Ferdinand von Mueller named the species in honour of Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon.[1][2][6][7] In 1995, the Australian tropical rainforest botanist Bernie Hyland updated the description and described the two different varieties.[2][3]

Phylogenetics studies have indicated that C. araliifolia branched off from an early lineage of the plant family Proteaceae and it retains the ancient characteristics. Botanists have classified the species as a member of the subfamily Grevilleoideae because its cotyledons have auricles, which all other Grevilleoideae have and other Proteaceae outside the subfamily do not have.[8]

Description

C. araliifolia grows up to a tall trees in its native rainforest habitats.[3][6] The trunks have a pale grey colour and have rounded buttresses with bases likened to an elephant's foot.[6][7] The compound leaves are up to 35 cm (14 in) long, arranged alternately along the stem. From Nov. to May white–cream flowers grow in panicle–structured compound inflorescences.[6][7] They grow into woody follicle fruits, ripening from July to March with 1 or 2 winged seeds inside, which sulphur-crested cockatoos eat.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Mueller, Ferdinand von (Dec 1867). "Carnavonia; Carnavonia araliifolia". XLIII (Digitised archive copy, online, via biodiversitylibrary.org). Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae (in Latin). 6. pp. 80–81. Retrieved 29 Nov 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Carnarvonia%". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS) database (listing by % wildcard matching of all taxa relevant to Australia). Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. Retrieved 29 Nov 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 Hyland, Bernie P. M. (1995). "Carnarvonia" (online version). In McCarthy, Patrick. Flora of Australia: Volume 16: Eleagnaceae, Proteaceae 1. Flora of Australia series. CSIRO Publishing / Australian Biological Resources Study. pp. 343–345. ISBN 978-0-643-05692-3.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Hyland, B. P. M.; Whiffin, T.; Zich, F. A.; et al. (Dec 2010). "Factsheet – Carnarvonia araliifolia". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants. Edition 6.1, online version [RFK 6.1]. Cairns, Australia: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), through its Division of Plant Industry; the Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research; the Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University. Retrieved 5 Apr 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Hyland, B. P. M.; Whiffin, T.; Zich, F. A.; et al. (Dec 2010). "Factsheet – Carnarvonia araliifolia var. montana". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants. Edition 6.1, online version [RFK 6.1]. Cairns, Australia: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), through its Division of Plant Industry; the Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research; the Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University. Retrieved 5 Apr 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Cooper, Wendy; Cooper, William T. (June 2004). "Carnarvonia F.Muell.". Fruits of the Australian Tropical Rainforest. Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia: Nokomis Editions. pp. 408–9. ISBN 9780958174213. Retrieved 29 Nov 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 Wrigley, John; Fagg, Murray (1991). Banksias, Waratahs and Grevilleas. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. pp. 128–29. ISBN 0-207-17277-3.
  8. ↑ Weston, Peter H.; Barker, Nigel P. (2006). "A new suprageneric classification of the Proteaceae, with an annotated checklist of genera" (PDF). Telopea. 11 (3): 314–344. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-11-16.
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