New Journal articles: Aug. 2022

The State Herbarium of South Australia published two articles online in its journal Swainsona today, 30 Aug. 2022.

Botanic Gardens Maintenance Worker Roy Haskett, Technical Assistant Ron Hill and Director Noel Lothian, summit of Mt Woodroffe, Musgrave Ranges, S.A. during collecting expedition, June 1958. Photo: BGSH.

(1) L. Haegi, Botany and science at Adelaide’s Botanic Gardens since the founding of the State Herbarium (4.5mb PDF)

This paper is published in Vol. 30 of Swainsona, the Special Issue to celebrate 60 years State Herbarium of South Australia. Hon. Research Associate Laurie Haegi presents a history of science and research at the Botanic Garden of South Australia in the areas of plant propagation, germination studies, plant diseases and plant pathology, identification of ornamental plants and seed banking. A focus of the article is the period from 1948, when Noel Lothian became Director of the Botanic Gardens, to today. The paper was the result of a presentation given during the Symposium celebrating the Herbarium’s birthday, which was part of the 2016 NRM Science Conference.

(2) M. Hislop & A.J.G. WIlson, A taxonomic update of Stenanthera (Ericaceae: Epacridoideae: Styphelieae), including description of a third species from Western Australia, an updated description of S. pungens and an Australia-wide key to species (0.5mb PDF)

Stenanthera lacsalaria, a new species from W.A. Illustration Hung Ky Nguyen.

The second article is published in Vol. 36 of Swainsona, the regular volume for this year. The authors review the epacrid genus Stenanthera, which occurs in W.A., S.A., N.S.W., Victoria and Tasmania. They publish a new species endemic to W.A., Stenanthera lacsalaria and provide an updated, more detailled description of S. pungens.

To access content of all volumes of Swainsona and the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens since Vol. 1 (1976), please visit the journal’s web-site at flora.sa.gov.au/swainsona or the Swainsona back-up site.

National Tree Day – 31 July 2022

Today is National Tree Day and in Australia across many parts of the country the dominant trees are the eucalypts. There are over 800 species of eucalypts and I often find myself trying to identify them as I drive along country roads or ride my bike to and from work. More often than not the best I can say is… ‘yes that it is a Eucalyptus‘. My cycle route around Adelaide takes me through a number of areas where eucalypts have been planted or left to remain. As a guess, I think I would ride past at least 20 species of eucalypts a day. We are lucky to live in a city that has extensive parklands surrounding it and a botanic gardens at its heart. In addition, in the area less than 15 minutes from central Adelaide City you can be in some kind of woodland, be it planted or remnant. There are not many other cities in the world that can claim the same.

The remarkable diversity of eucalypts can make them challenging to identify. In fact only a small group of extremely talented people (I’m not one) can tell you the species name by sight. Some eucalypts are quite distinct and can be identified by looking at the shape of the tree, or the gloss of the leaves. In fact to identify a ‘Euc’ it often takes a combination of bark, buds, leaf shape, number of gum-nuts and a few other characters to be confident you have the correct species.

If you have a chance on this National Tree Day, or the coming week, you should see if you can visit a eucalypt. Unless you are in the Nullarbor region there will be a eucalyptus close by wherever you are. It may be a mallee if you are in the outback, it might be planted if you are near a park, or if you are really lucky it might be a 400 year old River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis).

Enjoy looking at the eucalypt, observe the bark and the nuts and the leaves. See if you can figure out what species it might be. If you are interested to learn more about eucalypts then we will be hosting tours of the Adelaide Botanic gardens as part of the ‘Nature Festival’ programme that the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium has planned for 2022. We hope that we will see you in the gardens for it.

Written by State Herbarium botanist Andrew Thornhill

New journal articles: July 2022

The State Herbarium of South Australia published three articles in Vol. 36 of its journal Swainsona today, 22 July 2022.

(1) T.A. Hammer, Inadvertent lectotypifications of Australian Dillenia and Tetracera (Dilleniaceae) (100kb PDF).

In this Short Communication, Tim Hammer (State Herbarium of South Australia & The University of Adelaide) clarifies the types for two species of Dilleniaceae: Dillenia alata (R.Br. ex DC.) Banks ex Martelli and Tetracera daemeliana F.Muell. In both cases, a lectotype was chosen inadvernetly by R.D. Hoogland, i.e. he did not explicitely designated the type specimens in his publications as lectotypes, but according to Art 9.10 of the International code of nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) his listing of a “type” specimen is interpreted as lectotypification.

Tye specimen of the new species Quintinia macrophylla.

(2) O.K. Paul & J. Kellermann, A new species of Quintinia (Paracryphiaceae) and an overview of the genus for New Guinea (3.2mb PDF).

Botanist Oliver Paul from the Papua New Guinea National Herbarium and State Herbarium of South Australia staff member Jürgen Kellermann publish an overview of the enigmatic tropical genus Quintinia for New Guinea, lectotypify several names and also describe a new species, Q. macrophylla. Over the years, the genus has been assigned to several different plants families: Saxifragaceae, Escalloniaceae, Grossulariaceae or to its own family Quintiniaceae. Molecular data now place it into Paracryphiaceae. Quintinia species are small to medium-sized shrubs or trees, growing from lowland rainforests to high montane moss forests. A world-checklist of Quintinia is also appended to the paper: The genus is most species-rich in New Guinea (13 spp.), but is also distributed in New Caledonia & Vanuatu (6 spp.; see Pillon & Hequet 2019), Australia (4 spp.), New Zealand (1 sp.) and Mindanao (Philippines) & Sulawesi (Indonesia) (1 sp.).

(3) T.A. Hammer, Two new cremnophilous Hibbertia (Dilleniaceae) species from the Northern Territory (2.2mb PDF).

The author describes to species of Hibbertia, which are mainly occurring in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory. Both species have been known as phrase name taxa for several years: The new species Hibbertia pendula was known as Hibbertia sp. South Magela and H. scopulicola was known as Hibbertia sp. Mount Howship. Both taxa grow in sandstone gorges, hanging from fissures in cliff faces.

The new species Hibbertia scopulicola growing on a cliff face in a gorge in the Wellington Range. Photo: D.E. Murfet.

Lepiota brunneoincarnata – another exotic toxic mushroom in South Australia

Lepiota brunneoincarnata. Collection of the mushroom involved in a dog poisoning case. Scale divisions: 1 mm. Photo: P.S. Catcheside.

For some time, Lepiota brunneoincarnata is known to occur in South Australia and a similar species, Lepiota cristata, occurs in parts of New Zealand. The State Herbarium of South Australia has now published a new fact-sheet on this poisonous fungus (500kb PDF).

At the State Herbarium of South Australia, we have collections of Lepiota from at least 6 poisoning cases, some human and some dogs, over the last 5-8 years. While microscopy was done at the time of each case, the condition of samples when we receive them can be problematic. In the last few months we have extracted DNA and confirmed the identity of 3 of the past cases as L. brunneoincarnata, based on analyses of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) DNA region data. The next step is to complete tests for amatoxin concentration, to determine how much is a deadly dose.

Lepiota brunneoincarnata. Fungus involved in a human poisoning case, showing the typical white gills, purplish-brown fibrils on the cap, and the skirt on the stem with a purplish-brown rim and purplish-brown fibrils in patches below the skirt. Photo: T. Lebel.

Amatoxin poisoning upon ingestion of species of Lepiota may have a deadly outcome, but is not seen as often as it is from the genus Amanita. Amatoxins inhibit nuclear RNA polymerase II, and this inhibition results in impaired protein synthesis and cell death. Because the liver is an organ in which protein synthesis and cell turnover are high, it suffers the most distinct damage in amatoxin poisoning. The damage appears to be directly proportional to the dose of toxin ingested (i.e. more eaten, more damage). Amatoxins are contained in some Amanita, Galerina and Lepiota species. In Australia and New Zealand, Amanita phalloides (death cap) is known to have a high concentration of amatoxins, and to have been the cause of over 10 deaths in the last 15 years (a far lower rate than occurs in many overseas countries). Some Lepiota species (L. brunneoincarnata, L. brunneolilacina, L. helveola, L, josserandii, L. spiculata, L. venenata) are also known to be very toxic.

These exotic fungi are found in urban areas, mulched gardens or lawns. Don’t make the mistake that just because you have put mushroom compost in your garden beds, that edible Agaricus field mushrooms are the only ones that will grow!

State Herbarium fact-sheets are also available on the poisonous fungi Amanita phalloides (death cap) (700kb PDF) and Agaricus xanthodermus (yellow stainer) (650kb PDF).

Some fungi that have been confused with Lepiota brunneoincarnata in the past: Chlorophyllum brunneum (left), Leucoagaricus leucothites (middle) and Agaricus sp. (right). Photos: T. Lebel & K. Syme.

Written by State Herbarium mycologist Teresa Lebel
and Hon. Research Associate Pam Catcheside.

New journal articles: May 2022

Today, 20 May 2022, the State Herbarium of South Australia published four research papers in Vol. 36 of its journal Swainsona online.

Seed pods (fruits) of the new species Swainsona picta (W.A.). Photo: J. Hruban & M. Hrubanová.

(1) R.W. Davis & T.A. Hammer, Swainsona picta (Fabaceae), a new species from the Yalgoo bioregion, Western Australia (0.7 mb PDF).

The authors describe a new species of Swainsona with a particularly striking fruit. It only occurs near and on the Karara mining tenancy in the Yalgoo bioregion of Western Australia and is most closely related to S. oroboides.

(2) J. Kellermann, C. Clowes & S.J.A. Bell, A review of the Spyridium eriocephalum complex (Rhamnaceae: Pomaderreae) (7.5 mb PDF).

This and the next two papers present some of the taxonomic consequences of the recently published first comprehensive phylogeny of the genus Spyridium by Melbourne University PhD student Cat Clowes and collaborators (Clowes et al., Australian Systematic Botany 35: 95-119, 2022).

The authors revise the well-known widespread Spyridium eriocephalum and related species. The Kangaroo Island endemic var. glabrisepalum is raised to specific rank, and two new species are published: Spyridium latifolium from the Fleurieu Peninsula (S.A.) and S. undulifolium from the Goulburn River area (N.S.W.). Another taxon from New South Wales is given a phrase name, as it is only known by 3 specimens and has not been collected for 40 years: Spyridium sp. Dingo Creek (T. Tame 1011).

Spyridium eriocephalum, growing near the type location in Hobart (Tas.). Photo: M. Wapstra.

(3) J. Kellermann, C. Clowes & W.R. Barker, Spyridium bracteatum, a new species from Kangaroo Island allied to S. thymifolium (Rhamnaceae: Pomaderreae) (2.9 mb PDF).

The authors publish a new species from Kangaroo Island, known for over 30 years, but as yet unnamed. It has in the past been confused with S. thymifolium (which is also described and illustrated in the paper) and other species.

Inflorescence of Spyridium thymifolium from Fleurieu Peninsula (S.A.). Photo: J. Kellermann.

(4) J. Kellermann & C. Clowes, Spyridium longicor, a new species from Western Australia (Rhamnaceae: Pomaderreae) (2.7 mb PDF).

A new Western Australian species is described that was so far, known under the phrase name Spyridium sp. Jerdacuttup. It occurs from near Gairdner and Jerramungup townships, in Fitzgerald River National Park and eastwards to Bandalup Hill, Cheadanup Nature Reserve, Wittenoom Hills and with easternmost populations near Condingup.