Austrobaileya

Last updated

Austrobaileya
Austrobaileya scandens 01.jpg
Foliage, Wooroonooran National Park
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Order: Austrobaileyales
Family: Austrobaileyaceae
Croizat [2] [3]
Genus: Austrobaileya
C.T.White
Species:
A. scandens
Binomial name
Austrobaileya scandens
C.T.White [4]
Synonyms [5]

Austrobaileya maculataC.T.White

Austrobaileya is the sole genus consisting of a single species that constitutes the entire flowering plant family Austrobaileyaceae. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] The species Austrobaileya scandens grows naturally only in the Wet Tropics rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia. [4] [5] [8] [9] [10]

Contents

The name A. maculata is recognised as a synonym of A. scandens. [4] [5]

Austrobaileya plants grow as woody lianas or vines. Their main growing stems loosely twine, with straight, extending, leafy branches. The leaves are leathery, veined and simple. The leaves produce essential oils in spherical ethereal oil cells. Their foliage is damaged by oxidation in direct sunlight, so it tends to grow beneath the rainforest canopy, in low-sunlight and very humid conditions. [11] Like many other flowering plants growing in the understory of tropical rainforest, it does not have palisade mesophyll tissue or low leaf photosynthetic rates. It relies strongly on vegetative reproduction for continuation of the species.[ citation needed ]

Austrobaileya scandens

Austrobaileya scandens is a rare species found only (endemic) in the Wet Tropics rainforests of Queensland. It is the oldest species of flowering plants in Australia that requires pollination. Austrobaileya is one of many ancient ('basal') plants found in Wet Tropics that have survived millions of years of climatic and geological changes.

The species is well adapted to rainforests, where it can wind around tall woody trees that form the canopy. It is evolved for fitness in the wet tropical rainforest’s conditions of dampness, humidity, high-light canopy and low-light understory.

It can grow up to 15 metres (49 ft) tall. The plant has a distinctive blue-green colour foliage. Austrobaileya has large and solitary flowers that are arranged in a spiral with pale green petals. The five or so large sepals are yellowish-green, and larger than the five or so green petals. Flowers are pollinated by flies. To attract pollinators, A. scandens’ flowers release a rotting fish smell.

Their fruits are apricot-coloured and contain tightly packed seeds, similar in shape to chestnuts. The fruit is shaped like a pear or eggplant. Fruits have been known to grow to sizes of 7 centimetres (2.8 in) in length by 5 centimetres (2.0 in).

Family Austrobaileyaceae classification

The APG IV system, of 2016 (and the earlier 2009 APG III system and 2003 APG II system), recognise Austrobaileyaceae, placing it in the order Austrobaileyales. Austrobaileyales is accepted as being among the most basal lineages in the clade angiosperms. [2] [12] [13]

The Cronquist system, of 1981, assigned the family to the order Magnoliales, in subclass Magnoliidae, in class Magnoliopsida [=dicotyledons] of division Magnoliophyta [=angiosperms].

The Thorne system (1992) placed it in the order Magnoliales, which was assigned to superorder Magnolianae, in subclass Magnoliideae [=dicotyledons], in class Magnoliopsida [=angiosperms].

The Dahlgren system assigned it to the order Annonales, which was placed in superorder Magnolianae, in subclass Magnoliideae [=dicotyledons], in class Magnoliopsida [=angiosperms].

The Engler system, in its update of 1964, assigned it to the order Magnoliales, which was placed in subclass Archychlamydeae in class Dicotyledoneae and in subdivision Angiospermae.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alismatales</span> Order of herbaceous flowering plants of marshy and aquatic habitats

The Alismatales (alismatids) are an order of flowering plants including about 4,500 species. Plants assigned to this order are mostly tropical or aquatic. Some grow in fresh water, some in marine habitats. Perhaps the most important food crop in the order is the corm of the taro plant, Colocasia esculenta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurales</span> Order of flowering plants

The Laurales are an order of flowering plants. They are magnoliids, related to the Magnoliales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnoliales</span> Basal order of flowering plants

The Magnoliales are an order of flowering plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dicotyledon</span> Historical grouping of flowering plants

The dicotyledons, also known as dicots, are one of the two groups into which all the flowering plants (angiosperms) were formerly divided. The name refers to one of the typical characteristics of the group: namely, that the seed has two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. There are around 200,000 species within this group. The other group of flowering plants were called monocotyledons, typically each having one cotyledon. Historically, these two groups formed the two divisions of the flowering plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nymphaeales</span> Order of flowering plants

The Nymphaeales are an order of flowering plants, consisting of three families of aquatic plants, the Hydatellaceae, the Cabombaceae, and the Nymphaeaceae. It is one of the three orders of basal angiosperms, an early-diverging grade of flowering plants. At least 10 morphological characters unite the Nymphaeales. One of the traits is the absence of a vascular cambium, which is required to produce both xylem (wood) and phloem, which therefore are missing. Molecular synapomorphies are also known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnoliopsida</span>

Magnoliopsida is a valid botanical name for a class of flowering plants. By definition the class will include the family Magnoliaceae, but its circumscription can otherwise vary, being more inclusive or less inclusive depending upon the classification system being discussed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piperales</span> Order of flowering plants

Piperales is an order of flowering plants. It necessarily includes the family Piperaceae but other taxa have been included or disincluded variously over time. Well-known plants which may be included in this order include black pepper, kava, the many Peperomias, pepper elder, lizard's tail, birthwort, and wild ginger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proteales</span> Order of eudicot flowering plants

Proteales is an order of flowering plants consisting of three families. The Proteales have been recognized by almost all taxonomists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austrobaileyales</span> Order of flowering plants

Austrobaileyales is an order of flowering plants consisting of about 100 species of woody plants growing as trees, shrubs and lianas. The best-known species is Illicium verum, commonly known as star anise. The order belongs to the group of basal angiosperms, the ANA grade, which diverged earlier from the remaining flowering plants. Austrobaileyales is sister to all remaining extant angiosperms outside the ANA grade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illiciales</span> Order of flowering plants

Illiciales is an order of flowering plants that is not recognized by the current most widely used system of plant classification, the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group's APG III system. The order was comprised differently in various systems of plant taxonomy, but is composed of 2-4 families of shrubs, trees, and lianas native to Australasia, south eastern Asia, and the southeastern United States. The families all contain species with essential oils, and flowers with a perianth with bracts, sepals, and petals incompletely distinguished from each other and not arranged in definite whorls. The families of the order had been variably placed in other orders in different taxonomies.

<i>Amborella</i> Species of shrub

Amborella is a monotypic genus of understory shrubs or small trees endemic to the main island, Grande Terre, of New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The genus is the only member of the family Amborellaceae and the order Amborellales and contains a single species, Amborella trichopoda. Amborella is of great interest to plant systematists because molecular phylogenetic analyses consistently place it as the sister group to all other flowering plants, meaning it was the earliest group to evolve separately from all other flowering plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nelumbonaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Nelumbonaceae is a family of aquatic flowering plants. Nelumbo is the sole extant genus, containing Nelumbo lutea, native to North America, and Nelumbo nucifera, widespread in Asia. At least five other genera, Nelumbites, Exnelumbites, Paleonelumbo, Nelumbago, and Notocyamus are known from fossils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schisandraceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Schisandraceae is a family of flowering plants with 3 known genera and a total of 92 known species. Such a family has been recognized by most taxonomists, at least for the past several decades. Before that, the plants concerned were assigned to family Magnoliaceae and Illiciaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloranthaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Chloranthaceae is a family of flowering plants (angiosperms), the only family in the order Chloranthales. It is not closely related to any other family of flowering plants, and is among the early-diverging lineages in the angiosperms. They are woody or weakly woody plants occurring in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, Madagascar, Central and South America, and the West Indies. The family consists of four extant genera, totalling about 77 known species according to Christenhusz and Byng in 2016. Some species are used in traditional medicine. The type genus is Chloranthus. The fossil record of the family, mostly represented by pollen such as Clavatipollenites, extends back to the dawn of the history of flowering plants in the Early Cretaceous, and has been found on all continents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trimeniaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Trimeniaceae is a family of flowering plants recognized by most taxonomists, at least for the past several decades. It is a small family of one genus, Trimenia, with eight known species of woody plants, bearing essential oils. The family is subtropical to tropical and found in Southeast Asia, eastern Australia and on several Pacific Islands.

<i>Degeneria</i> Genus of flowering plants

Degeneria is a genus of flowering plants endemic to Fiji. It is the only genus in the family Degeneriaceae. The APG IV system of 2016, recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Magnoliales in the clade magnoliids.

<i>Eupomatia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Eupomatia is a genus of three species of plants in the ancient family Eupomatiaceae, and is the sole genus in the family. Eupomatiaceae is recognised by most taxonomists and classified in the plant order Magnoliales. The three described species are shrubs or small trees, native to the rainforests and humid eucalypt forests of eastern Australia and New Guinea. The type species Eupomatia laurina was described in 1814 by Robert Brown.

Plant taxonomy is the science that finds, identifies, describes, classifies, and names plants. It is one of the main branches of taxonomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnoliids</span> Clade of flowering plants

Magnoliids, Magnoliidae or Magnolianae are a clade of flowering plants. With more than 10,000 species, including magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, tulip tree and many others, it is the third-largest group of angiosperms after the eudicots and monocots. The group is characterized by trimerous flowers, pollen with one pore, and usually branching-veined leaves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basal angiosperms</span> Descendants of most extant flowering plants

The basal angiosperms are the flowering plants which diverged from the lineage leading to most flowering plants. In particular, the most basal angiosperms were called the ANITA grade, which is made up of Amborella, Nymphaeales and Austrobaileyales.

References

  1. "Species profile—Austrobaileya scandens". Queensland Department of Environment and Science. Queensland Government. 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x . ISSN   1095-8339. See APG III system
  3. 1 2 Stevens, Peter F. (September 2013) [2001 onwards]. "Angiosperm Phylogeny Website – Austrobaileyaceae". Version 13, 28 Sep 2013 with updates. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Austrobaileya scandens". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, Australian Government . Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Ross, E. M. (1989). "Plant profile Austrobaileya scandens C.T.White". Austrobaileya. 3 (1): 163–165. JSTOR   41738747.
  6. Mabberley, David J. (May 2008). Mabberley's Plant-book: A Portable Dictionary of Plants, Their Classifications, and Uses (3rd, revised, illustrated ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 81. ISBN   9780521820714.
  7. F.A. Zich; B.P.M Hyland; T. Whiffen; R.A. Kerrigan (2020). "Austrobaileyaceae". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Edition 8. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  8. 1 2 "AustrobaileyaC.T.White". Flora of Australia Online. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
  9. "Austrobaileya scandensC.T.White". Flora of Australia Online. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
  10. F.A. Zich; B.P.M Hyland; T. Whiffen; R.A. Kerrigan (2020). "Austrobaileya scandens". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Edition 8. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  11. Raven, Peter H. (2013). Biology of Plants. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman and Company Publishers. p. 480. ISBN   9781429219617.
  12. Soltis, Douglas E.; Smith, Stephen A.; Cellinese, Nico; et al. (April 2011). "Angiosperm phylogeny: 17 genes, 640 taxa". American Journal of Botany. 98 (4): 704–730. doi:10.3732/ajb.1000404. hdl: 2027.42/142064 . ISSN   1537-2197. PMID   21613169.
  13. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2016). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society . 181 (1): 1–20. doi: 10.1111/boj.12385 . ISSN   0024-4074.