Today, 1 Dec. 2014, a new special volume of the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens was published.  Volume 28 of the Journal consists of one article: P.S. Short’s magnum opus, the revision of the Australian species of Brachyscome (Asteraceae).

Brachyscome tatei near the SA/WA border

A taxonomic review of Brachyscome s.lat. (Asteraceae: Astereae), including descriptions of a new genus, Roebuckia, new species and new infraspecific taxa. (10mb PDF)

The 219 page article is the result of over 20 years’ of research. All Australian species of Brachyscome and related genera are reviewed. 17 new species and 4 subspecies of Brachyscome are described as new, totalling the number of species of the genus to 87. The new genus Roebuckia is split from Brachyscome. It is named after William Dampier’s ship, the Roebuck, which landed on the W.A. coast in 1699. Roebuckia contains 9 species, of which 5 species are new described, as well as 5 new varieties.

The paper is illustrated with photographs and very detailed line-drawings of fruits by botanical artist Sue Wickison from New Zealand. The articles concludes with a large appendix, listing the character states for 87 morphological and other characters for all species discussed.

To access content of all volumes of the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens since 1976, please visit the journal’s web-site at flora.sa.gov.au/jabg.

Eucalyptus alatissima

Today, 17 Nov. 2014, the first part of the chapter of Myrtaceae (32.9mb) for the 5th edition of Flora of South Australia was published. On 102 pages, the author Dean Nicolle describes all native and naturalised taxa of Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora, occurring in South Australia. Identification keys are provided and most species are illustrated with drawings and photographs. Other genera of Myrtaceae are in preparation and will be published shortly.

With over 100 species this is one of the largest and most complex chapters published to date, editing of which took over two years and included extensive work on plant distributions and synonyms, to bring the Flora chapter and the SA Plant Census in synch. Many thanks to Robyn Barker and Peter Lang for their help during this time.

The general link to the 5th edition of Flora of South Australia is flora.sa.gov.au, providing current treatments, glossary, introduction and cover pages for printing. Previous versions of Flora treatments are still available from our Superseded treatments page.

Yesterday, 29 Oct. 2014, the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens published two new articles online:

• H.R. Toelken: Notes on Hibbertia (Dilleniaceae) 10. Hibbertia hirsuta (subgen. Hemistemma: H. vestita group) does occur in South Australia and Tasmania. (600kb PDF)
• G. Kantvilas & J.A. Elix: Additions to the genus Lecidella (lichenised Ascomycota: Lecanoraceae). (820kb PDF)

Lecidella leucomarginata, a new lichen described by Kantvilas & Elix. Scale bar = 1 mm.

State Herbarium of South Australia Hon. Research Associate Hellmut Toelken discusses the rediscovery of Hibbertia hirsuta in south-eastern South Australia, 130 years after it was first collected in the State. For a long time the species was thought to only occur in Tasmania.

Lichenologists Gintaras Kantvilas (Tasmanian Herbarium, Hobart) and Jack Elix (Australian National University, Canberra) describe one new species and one new subspecies of the lichen genus Lecidella; their paper also includes a key to the genus for temperate Australia.

To access content of all volumes of the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens since 1976, please visit the journal’s web-site at flora.sa.gov.au/jabg.

Rhododendron dissilistellatum

Today, the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens published an article (700kb PDF) by Lyn Craven describing three new species of Rhododendron from Sulawesi and New Guinea, and new combinations for six other taxa. This is one of the last papers by this author, who submitted the final manuscript three weeks before he passed away in mid-July 2014.

Lyn Craven was for many years a research botanist at the Australian National Herbarium, Canberra (CANB), and during the last few years an Honorary Research Fellow at this institution. His research focused on several groups, including Myrtaceae (non-eucalypt genera, especially Syzygium, Eugenia and Melaleuca incl. Callistemon), Malvaceae (Gossypium, Hibiscus), Ericaceae (Rhododendron), Fabaceae (Glycine), Boraginaceae (Heliotropium) and other plants from Australia, Malesia and the Pacific. In collaboration with Brendan Lepschi, he also authored the treatment for several genera of Myrtaceae for the new edition of Flora of South Australia, which will be published later this year. More information on Lyn’s life and work will be published in a forthcoming article in the Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter.

To access content of all volumes of the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens since 1976, please visit the journal’s web-site at flora.sa.gov.au/jabg.