Today, the State Herbarium of South Australia published two article in the online version of Swainsona.

(1) J.G. Conran, Weird and wonderful plants of South Australia (2.3mb PDF)

This article is published in Vol. 30 of the journal, which contains the Proceedings of the Botany Symposium “Botany 2016 — Past, present and future“, held at the 2016 NRM Science Conference, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the State Herbarium.

John Conran‘s contribution to the Conference was an overview of interesting plants in the State. He discusses tiny Trithuria plants, carnivorous sundews, triggerplants with spring-loaded pollination mechanisms, parasitic plants like mistletoes, quandongs and snotty gobbles, and many others.

(2) P.S. Catcheside & D.E.A. Catcheside, CORRIGENDUM to: A new species of small black disc fungi, Smardaea australis (Pezizales, Pyronemataceae), is described from Australia (430kb PDF)

This articles corrects an error in the description of a fungus species that was published in Vol. 31 in June 2017. The original article is available here (1.8mb PDF).

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.

A new book on the plants of southern Eyre Peninsula has just been published:

Saunders, Brian (2018). Flowering plants of lower Eyre Peninsula: An illustrated tour of the native flora, 200 pp. Camden Park: Lane Print & Post.

The book is a photographic identification guide to the more common plants of the area, with brief notes on their distribution and biology. The southern half of Eyre Peninsula is home to many remarkable plants, including some which are endemic to the region. A list of all EP native plants can be found through the eFloraSA website.

State Herbarium of South Australia botanist Peter Lang was heavily involved in the book project, advising Brian on the correct names of plants and checking text and images.

The publication is available in shops in Coffin Bay, Port Lincoln and Adelaide at $25.

Other well-known identification guides by the author include:

• Shores and shallows of Coffin Bay: An identification guide (2012, 2nd edition)
• Admiring the fungi of lower Eyre Peninsula: A preliminary guide to the larger fungi of the region (2015).

 

The State Herbarium of South Australia published one article in the online version of Vol. 30 of the journal Swainsona, today. This volume of the journal contains the Proceedings of the Botany Symposium“Botany 2016 — Past, present and future“, which was held at the 2016 NRM Science Conference. to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the State Herbarium.

J.M. Huisman & R.N. Baldock, The marine benthic algae of South Australia (1.6mb PDF)

The authors review the history and current status of phycological research in South Australia. They point to the importance of Prof. Bryan Womersley‘s work, whose Marine benthic flora of southern Australia (1984-2003) documented the algal diversity of our coasts in exemplary detail and critically revised many groups of algae. They also discuss the impact of new molecular methods and the continuing importance of herbaria, as well as pointing out some current and future challenges.

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.

Scanned volumes of the Marine benthic flora of southern Australia are available on the Enviro Data SA web-site:

I – Introduction, Seagrasses, Chlorophyta and Charophyta (1984) (21.2mb PDF)
II – Phaeophyta and Chrysophyta (Vaucheria) (1987)  (31mb PDF)
IIIA – Rhodophyta: Bangiophyceae and Florideophyceae (Acrochaetiales, Nemaliales, Gelidiales, Hildenbrandiales and Gigartinales) (1994) (36.6mb PDF)
IIIB – Rhodophyta: Gracilariales, Rhodymeniales, Corallinales and Bonnemaisoniales (1996) (29.3mb PDF)
IIIC – Rhodophyta: Ceramiales – Ceramiaceae, Dasyaceae (1998) (36.3mb PDF)
IIID – Rhodophyta: Ceramiales – Delessariaceae, Sarcomeniaceae, Rhodomelaceae (2003) (40.3mb PDF)

The scans are made available in collaboration with the Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. Fact-sheets on all south Australian algae, based on the book series, are also available through the eFloraSA system.

Today, the State Herbarium of South Australia published two article in the online version of Vol. 31 of the journal Swainsona.

(1) P.S. Catcheside & D.E.A. Catcheside, Antrelloides atroceracea, a new genus and species in the Pezizaceae (Pezizales) from Australia (4.7mb PDF)

Hon. Research Associate Pam Catcheside publishes a new species of fungi that taxon occurs on Kangaroo Island and in Western Australia. Especially exciting is the fact that this species also belongs to a new genus. The authors examined the taxon with molecular methods and present its placement in a phylogeny of related genera of Pezizales. They also present detailed morphological observations on the new species. Because of its appearance, it is nick-named “Black Shoe Leather”.

(2) T.A. Hammer, The Ptilotus murrayi species group: synonymisation of P. petiolatus under P. murrayi and description of the new Western Australian species P. unguiculatus (Amaranthaceae) (1.7mb PDF)

Tim Hammer from The University of Western Australia describes a new species of Ptilotus (mulla mulla), which is only known from one collection from Eddaggee Station, in the Shark Bay area of Western Australia. He compares it with related species, including P. murrayi, which also occurs in the far north-east of South Australia.

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 documents all known plant taxa (species, sub-species, varieties and forms) native and naturalised (weedy) in South Australia. These taxa are listed in the Census of South Australian Plants, Algae and Fungi. All newly discovered state and regional records are added to the Census throughout the year. The records are based on preserved plant specimens, verified by a botanists, and housed in the vaults of the State Herbarium.

For all new records of non-native plants, an annual report is produced by the Weeds Botanist Chris Brodie and colleagues from the State Herbarium. The report includes the list of new weeds recorded for South Australia with locations, descriptions, and photographs. Also documented are updates to other taxa that have had a change in distribution, weed status or name. Other activities carried out by Weeds Botanist are also summarised, such as field trips or presentations to community groups.

The latest report is now available online:

Brodie, C.J., Lang, P.J., Canty, P.D. & Waycott, M. (2018). Regional Landscape Surveillance for New Weed Threats Project, 2017-2018: Annual report on new plant naturalisations in South Australia. (4.5mb PDF).

Also available for download are last year’s 2017 report (3.8mb PDF) and a compilation of all reports from 2010 to 2016 (3.7mb PDF).

These reports highlights to land managers, which non-native plant species have recently been found in South Australia and where. New records are listed as either “naturalised/established” (*) or “questionably naturalised/established” (?e).

Naturalised plant taxa are those that have originally been introduced by humans to an area, deliberately or accidentally. They have self-propagated without aid where they are not wanted, possibly spreading by natural means to new areas. An example listed in the recent report is Chasmanthe aethiopica (small cobra lily) or Eucalyptus densa subsp. densa. It is an attractive red-flowered bulbous herbaceous perennial plant. It was found naturalised on the upper dunes at Penneshaw beach on Kangaroo Island. This is the first record of this taxa growing wild in Australia.

Questionably Naturalised plant taxa (i.e. possible new weeds) are introduced non-native plants that may be self-propagating without aid, but are not well established or lack data to classify them as naturalised. An example of this in the report are a selection of species of eucalypts from W.A. and eastern Australia, including: E. eremophila subsp. eremophila, E. forrestiana, E stoatei and E. torquata.

Any unknown or possible new state or regional weed records should be reported to Chris Brodie (0437 825 685, chris.brodie@sa.gov.au).

Contributed by State Herbarium Weeds Botanist Chris Brodie.