Carnarvonia

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) to 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]

For the fossil arthropod, see Carnarvonia (animal).

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

Carnarvonia 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]

Carnarvonia 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. Mueller, Ferdinand von (Dec 1867). "Carnavonia; Carnavonia araliifolia". XLIII (Digitised archive copy, online, via biodiversitylibrary.org). Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae (in Latin). 6. Auctoritate Gubern. Coloniæ Victoriæ, Ex Officina Joannis Ferres. pp. 80–81. Retrieved 29 Nov 2013.
  2. "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. Hyland, Bernie P. M. (1995). "Carnarvonia" (online version). In McCarthy, Patrick (ed.). 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. Hyland, B. P. M.; Whiffin, T.; Zich, F. A.; et al. (Dec 2010). "Factsheet – Carnarvonia araliifolia". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants (6.1, online version RFK 6.1 ed.). 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. Hyland, B. P. M.; Whiffin, T.; Zich, F. A.; et al. (Dec 2010). "Factsheet – Carnarvonia araliifolia var. montana". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants (6.1, online version RFK 6.1 ed.). 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. 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. Archived from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 29 Nov 2013.
  7. 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. doi:10.7751/telopea20065733. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.