Review of nomenclature for Actinidiaceae in Australia

A lectotype is chosen for Australia’s only native species of Actinidiaceae, Dillenia andreana F.Muell. A case is made for Saurauia andreana (F.Muell.) Oliv. ex F.Muell. to be treated as a new combination based on Dillenia andreana rather than as the name of a new taxon. Notes are provided on the classification of Yang-tao (Chinese Gooseberry or Kiwifruit), Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa (A.Chev.) A.Chev., a taxon occasionally naturalised in Australia, for use on the online Flora of Australia.

Grevillea hortiorum Olde (Proteaceae: Grevilleoideae: Hakeinae), an uncommon species from winter-damp woodlands in the Avon Wheatbelt, south-west Western Australia

Grevillea hortiorum Olde is here described as a new species. It is a member of the Triloba Group sensu Flora of Australia, based on shared morphological characters, and it may be related to Grevillea acrobotrya Meisn. Numerous morphological differences distinguish it as a species, but its relationships have not been tested with phylogenetic data. Subsequent to its initial discovery, when it was thought to be rare, both its distribution and knowledge of populations have been greatly expanded, almost exclusively due to the efforts of its eponymous collectors. It was initially thought to be uncommon and associated with open wandoo woodland, but later collections have been gathered in open heath as well. An interim key to Grevillea hortiorum is provided.

Classification and typification of Australian lycophytes and ferns based on Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification PPG I

The classification and typification of all Australian ferns and lycophytes is updated to reflect the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group I classification and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, presenting 8 new nomenclatural combinations as well as 85 lectotypifications. The Australian fern and lycophyte flora comprises 2 classes, 14 orders, 32 families, 134 genera and 528 species and subspecies with the addition of 8 newly recorded and 6 newly recognised species since the publication of the Flora of Australia fern volume in 1998. Overall, 208 species are endemic to Australia, with Queensland having the highest species diversity and endemism by state or territory, and Lord Howe Island having the highest concentration of species and endemics per unit area. The Australian fern and lycophyte flora shows diverse links with Africa, Asia and Oceania, with the largest overlaps being shared with Asia and Oceania. More species are endemic to Australia+Oceania than to Australia+Asia. Contrasting with the classification presented in the Flora of Australia, no genera of ferns and lycophytes are now considered to be wholly endemic to Australia.

Dodonaea crucifolia (Sapindaceae, Dodonaeoideae), a new species from north-eastern New South Wales, Australia

Dodonaea crucifolia I.Telford & J.J.Bruhl (Sapindaceae, Dodonaeoideae), endemic to north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, and previously confused with D. hirsuta (Maiden & Betche) Maiden & Betche, is described as new. Dodonaea hirsuta is recircumscribed with the D. crucifolia components removed and with male flowers described for the first time. The distribution, habitat, and conservation status of both species are discussed and a table is provided comparing selected morphological attributes. Images of the new species and D. hirsuta are provided. The identification keys in Flora of Australia and NSW FloraOnline are modified to include the new species.

Grevillea pieroniae Olde (Proteaceae: Grevilleoideae: Hakeinae), a rare new species in the Triloba Group from the Stirling Range, Western Australia, and a short history of the group.

Twenty-one Grevillea species currently comprise the Triloba Group sensu Flora of Australia, or Group 1 sensu The Grevillea Book. All species except the transcontinental species G. anethifolia R.Br. are distributed in southwest Western Australia. Grevillea pieroniae Olde, herein described, is currently treated as Grevillea sp. Stirling Range (D.J. McGillivray 3488 & A.S. George) by the Western Australian Herbarium. It has some affinity with Grevillea anethifolia through shared possession of similar truncate-conical to cylindrical pollen-presenters. Grevillea pieroniae is a rare species that is potentially threatened by Phytophthora cinnamomi, fire frequency, a drying climate, as well as grazing by feral and native herbivores, so requires careful assessment and ongoing monitoring. A short history of the Triloba Group is provided to give context to Grevillea pieroniae and as precursor to other related species soon to be recognised.

The World Flora Online – Research Infrastructure for Plant Conservation

The World Flora Online (WFO) project was initiated in 2012 in response to Target 1 of the Congress on Biological Diversity's Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) – "To create an online flora of all known plants by 2020". Target 1 is intended to enable and support the additional 15 targets of the GSPC because plant conservation requires a stable foundation of taxonomic and descriptive information. A WFO Consortium has been formed of 42 international partners and growing. The World Flora Online Public Portal (www.worldfloraonline.org) was launched at the International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen, China in July, 2017. The baseline Public Portal was initially populated with a taxonomic backbone of plant names and taxonomic data gathered from The Plant List, later augmented by newer taxonomic sources like Solanaceae Source. All names in the backbone are assigned globally unique WFOIDs that facilitate ingestion and update of both taxonomic and descriptive data. The next phase of the World Flora Online involves more enhancement of the taxonomic backbone by new plant Taxonomic Expert Networks (TENs) and acceleration of ingestion of descriptive data from digital floras and monographs, as well as threat status data from other sources like International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Descriptive data can include text descriptions, images, geographic distributions, identification keys, phylogenetic trees, as well as atomized trait data like threat status, lifeform or habitat. Initial digital descriptive datasets have been incorporated from Flora of Brazil, Flora of South Africa, Flora of China, Flora of North Africa, Flora of Australia, and many others. Hard work continues to match the names associated with the newly submitted descriptions to the names in the WFO taxonomic backbone and then ingest the descriptive data elements into the WFO database. Numerous data tools have been added to the WFO infrastructure to accomplish the data cleaning, standardization and transformation required before descriptive data can be integrated. This presentation will review the history of WFO, the design of the WFO infrastructure and plans for its use, and future directions.

Ethno-botanical and geo-referenced profiling of medicinal plants of Nawagai Valley, District Buner (Pakistan)

The prime objective of the research was to list the important ethnomedicinal plants of Nawagai village, District Buner. During the survey, 44 plant species from 27 families were observed and collected from the targeted area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Lamiaceae members were the most dominant (54%) followed by members of Asteraceae (30%), Poaceae (18%) and Solanaceae (12%). Relevant information such as field data, GPS coordinates family names, local names, therapeutic uses and plant habits were recorded for each species. For preservation purposes, specimens were mounted on herbarium sheets, and identified with the help of flora of Pakistan, flora of Australia and other relevant floristic records. During this research work all the collected specimens were preserved in the (BG&H, UOM) Botanical Garden and Herbarium, the data were also provided to the Department of Botany, University of Malakand Dir (Lower), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Gaps and priorities for the Flora of Australia: where to next?

This paper outlines current gaps in the Flora of Australia in terms of family-level treatments, and next steps towards completing the Flora, including moving from hard-copy volumes to a more dynamic and collaborative online platform.

This changes everything: dynamic floras and the disruption of traditional taxonomic practice

Flora writing has traditionally been an important but sporadic part of the taxonomic process. The gap between the completion of Bentham’s Flora australiensis and the commencement of the Flora of Australia project, for example, was 103 years. Floras are generally written by small teams (occasionally by single authors) based in single or coordinated networks of institutions, and function as authoritative, point-in-time syntheses of taxonomic activity during the years preceding their creation. Of course, since taxonomy is a dynamic and (potentially) open-ended science, it is often the case that as soon as a Flora treatment is published, it is rendered superseded by ongoing taxonomy. The traditional taxonomic process can, thus, be modelled as a cyclic alternation of open, unconstrained, more-or-less unmediated taxonomic activity (hypothesis generation) punctuated by short phases of synthesis, constraint and mediation (hypothesis consolidation). The opportunity to move from paper Flora publication to digital management and delivery of eFloras may substantially change this model. Although traditional Floras are understood to be unitary, authoritative, synthetic, sporadic and static, eFloras are expected to be unitary, authoritative, synthetic, continuous and dynamic. There is potential tension between the first three expectations of an eFlora (that it be unitary, authoritative and synthetic) and the last two (that it be continuous and dynamic). Resolving this tension may necessitate a change in the way taxonomy is conducted, mediated and managed; the implications of such change will need to be carefully considered, and the change will need to be carefully managed, to make the most of the opportunities of eFloras, while retaining the values of an open, vigorous taxonomic science.