From 22 Nov. to 3 Dec. 2021, four staff members of the State Herbarium of South Australia participated in a Bush Blitz Expedition to the Far West of the State: the Yalata Indigenous Protected Area (IPA), Wahgunyah & Fowlers Bay Conservation Parks, as well as the Fowlers Bay townsite.

The sand dune near Fowlers Bay township. Photo: J. Kellermann.

As reported in a previous BLOG post, Peter Lang, Tim Hammer, Jürgen Kellermann and Tracey Spokes surveyed the area and collected specimens.

The results were a total of 334 unique taxa recorded across the survey area during the Yalata-Fowlers Bay Bush Blitz: This total comprises 232 vascular plants, 20 lichens, 1 fungus, 6 mosses and 75 marine algae. They are represented by 856 separate collections made during the survey. All specimens were accessioned into the State Herbarium; a map of the collections and detailed information is available on the Australasian Virtual Herbarium.

The official Bush Blitz report of the expedition was released last year:

Bush Blitz (2023). Far West Coast, South Australia 2021: Bush Blitz expedition report. (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra). (2.3mb PDF).

The State Herbarium’s botany report was submitted to Bush Blitz in 2022. It is now published on Enviro Data SA:

Spokes, T.M. & Lang, P.J. (2022). Yalata-Fowlers Bay Bush Blitz: Vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, macrofungi and marine macroalgae. Yalata Indigenous Protected Area, including Fowlers Bay Conservation Park, Wahgunyah Conservation Park and Nuyts Archipelago Marine Park, South Australia. Report for Bush Blitz, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. (State Herbarium of South Australia: Adelaide). (9.8mb PDF).

Appendix 1 is also available as a spreadsheet (56kb XLSX document). Appendix 2 is only available on request, but the data can be viewed at the Australasian Virtual Herbarium.

A team from the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) was also part of the expedition and surveyed the vegetation at several sites. Their report is available separately:

TERN (2022). Summary of TERN Plots for the Yalata and Fowlers Bay Conservation Park Bush Blitz, South Australia. (Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network: Adelaide). (2.3mb PDF).

Bush Blitz is an innovative partnership between the Australian Government, BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities and Earthwatch Australia. It is the world’s first continent-scale biodiversity survey, providing the knowledge needed to help us protect Australia’s unique animals and plants for generations to come.

The State Herbarium of South Australia published two articles in Vol. 38 of its journal Swainsona today, 16 Sep. 2024.

Distribution of the order Oxalidales. Compiled from the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website.

(1) Y. Pillon, D. Craynb, S.J.R. Streiff & J.M. de Vos, A suprageneric classification of Oxalidales (200kb PDF).

Using the results of recently published thoroughly-samples phylogenies, the authors from Australia, France and Switzerland, publish a revised classification of the order Oxalidales, which contains the plant families Brunelliaceae, Cephalotaceae, Connaraceae, Cunoniaceae, Elaeocarpaceae (incl. the former Tremandraceae) and Oxalidaceae. Some of these families are well-represented in Australia. One new suborder, five new subfamilies, and three new tribes are described.

The new species Inoderma applanatum. Photo: J. Jarman.

(2) G. Kantvilas, Tasmanian additions to the genus Inoderma (Arthoniaceae) (3.2mb PDF).

The author from the Tasmanian Herbarium reviews the lichen genus Inoderma, which was split recently from Arthonia, and accepts two species for Australia: one described as new, the other an existing species that is transferred to Inoderma. In total, the genus now has seven species worldwide. A species of fungus that grows on Inoderma lichens is also reported: Chaenothecopsis brevipes.

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.

The State Herbarium of South Australia published two article on the genus Hibbertia in Vol. 38 of its journal Swainsona today,11 July 2024.

Hibbertia cunninghamii, flower (left) and amplexicaul leaf (right). Photo: T.A. Hammer.

T.A. Hammer & K.R. Thiele, Revision of the Western Australian Hibbertia cunninghamii species group (Dilleniaceae) (3.9mb PDF).

The authors review Hibbertia cunninghamii and four related species, H. amplexicaulis, H. nymphaea, H. perfoliata and H. porongurupensis, all endemic to south-western WA and are characterised by amplexicaul leaf bases. The circumscriptions of the species is clarified and a revised identification key published. All species are illustrated with colour photographs.

Hibbertia acutifolia flower. Photo: T.A.Hammer.

T.A. Hammer, New combinations in the Hibbertia vestita (Dilleniaceae) species group from New South Wales (15.4mb PDF).

The author presents evidence that two subspecies of Hibbertia from New South Wales are better treated at species level. He changes the names of Hibbertia ericifolia subsp. acutifolia to the species H. acutifolia, and H. florida subsp. angustinervis to H. angustinervis. A table outlining the differences is provided and detailed photographs of leaves and flowers show the morphologies of the species and how they differ from typical Hibbertia ericifolia and H. florida.

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.