Bertya

Bertya
Bertya gummifera
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily:	Crotonoideae
Tribe:	Ricinocarpeae
Subtribe:	Bertyinae
Genus:	Bertya Planch. [1]

Bertya is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae endemic to Australia. Plants in the genus Bertya are shrubs, usually monoecious, with simple leaves, flowers arranged singly in leaf axils, male flowers with many stamens, female flowers usually smaller and narrower than male flowers, and the fruit a capsule containing a single seed.

Description

Plants in the genus Bertya are usually monoecious, often sticky shrubs, either glabrous or covered with woolly, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are usually arranged alternately, simple, sessile or on a short petiole, flat or with the ends curved downwards, and lack stipules. The flowers are sessile or on a short pedicel, usually singly, or in umbel-like clusters on a peduncle in leaf axils. Male flowers usually have no petals, but many stamens with their bases fused, and no styles. Female flowers are small and narrower, have no petals, the ovary usually with three locules and three styles fused at the base. The fruit is a capsule, usually containing a single oval, elliptic or oblong seed with a creamy-white to yellowish caruncle. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Taxonomy

The genus Bertya was first described in 1845 by Jules Émile Planchon in William Jackson Hooker's London Journal of Botany. ^{[6] [7]} The name of the genus (Bertya) honours the French botanist and horticulturist Count Léonce de Lambertye. ^[2]

Species list

The following is a list of Berytia species accepted by the Australian Plant Census ^[8] and Plants of the World Online ^[9] as at January 2025:

• Bertya brownii S.Moore - (N.S.W)
• Bertya calycina Halford & R.J.F.Hend. - (Qld.)
• Bertya cunninghamii Planch. - wallaby bush, gooma bush, sticky Bertya (Qld., N.S.W., Victoria)
• Bertya dimerostigma F.Muell. - (W.A.)
• Bertya ernestiana Halford & R.J.F.Hend. - (Qld.)
• Bertya findlayi F.Muell. - (Vic., N.S.W.)
• Bertya glandulosa Grüning - (Qld.)
• Bertya grampiana Halford & R.J.F.Hend. - (Vic.)
• Bertya granitica Halford & R.J.F.Hend. - (Qld.)
• Bertya gummifera Planch. - (N.S.W.)
• Bertya ingramii T.A.James - (N.S.W.)
• Bertya lapicola Halford & R.J.F.Hend. - (Qld.)
• Bertya linearifolia Halford & R.J.F.Hend. - (N.S.W.)
• Bertya mollissima Blakely - (N.S.W.)
• Bertya oblonga Blakely - (N.S.W.)
• Bertya oleifolia Planch. - (N.S.W., Qld.)
• Bertya opponens (F.Muell. ex Benth.) Guymer - (N.S.W., Qld.)
• Bertya pedicellata F.Muell. - (Qld.)
• Bertya pinifolia Planch. - (Qld.)
• Bertya polystigma Grüning - (Qld.)
• Bertya pomaderrioides F.Muell. - (N.S.W.)
• Bertya recurvata Halford & R.J.F.Hend. - (Qld.)
• Bertya riparia Halford & R.J.F.Hend. - (N.S.W.)
• Bertya rosmarinifolia Planch. (N.S.W., Qld.)
• Bertya rotundifolia F.Muell. - S.A
• Bertya sharpeana Guymer - (Qld.)
• Bertya tasmanica (Sond. & F.Muell.) Müll.Arg. - (N.S.W., Tas, S.A.)
• Bertya virgata (Ewart) Halford & R.J.F.Hend. - (W.A.)

References

1. "Bertya". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
2. Halford, David A.; Henderson, Rodney John Francis (2002). "Studies in Euphorbiaceae A.L.Juss. sens. lat. 3. A revision of Bertya Planch. (Ricinocarpeae Mull.Arg., Bertyinae Mull.Arg.)". Austrobaileya. 6 (2): 190. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
3. James, Theresa A.; Harden, Gwen J. "Genus Bertya". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
4. Jeanes, Jeff A.; Stajsic, Val. "Bertya". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
5. "Bertya". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
6. "Bertya". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
7. Planchon, Jules E. (1845). Hooker, William J. (ed.). "Description de deux genres nouveaux de la famille des Euphorbiacees". London Journal of Botany. 4: 472–475. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
8. "Bertya". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
9. "Bertya". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 14 February 2025.