Brown's taxonomic arrangement of Dryandra

Last updated August 01, 2022

Robert Brown's taxonomic arrangement of Dryandra was the first arrangement of what is now Banksia ser. Dryandra. His initial arrangement was published in 1810, and a further arrangement, including an infrageneric classification, followed in 1830. Aspects of Brown's arrangements can be recognised in the later arrangements of George Bentham and Alex George.

Background

The dryandras are a group of proteaceous shrubs endemic to southwest Western Australia. For nearly two hundred years they were considered a separate genus, having been published at that rank in 1810 by Robert Brown. In 2007 they were transferred into the genus Banksia as B. ser. Dryandra. There are now nearly 100 species, plus numerous subspecies and varieties.

Brown's 1810 arrangement

The genus Dryandra was first published by Brown in "On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae", which was read to the Linnean Society of London in 1809, and published the following year in Volume X of Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. Brown listed 13 species, but did not attempt an infrageneric classification of them. Later that year, he republished his descriptions of Dryandra in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen .^[1]

Brown's 1810 arrangement was as follows:^[1]

Genus Dryandra (now B. ser. Dryandra)

D. floribunda (now B. sessilis )

D. cuneata (now B. obovata )

D. armata (now B. armata )

D. falcata (now B. falcata )

D. formosa (now B. formosa )

D. mucronulata (now B. mucronulata )

D. plumosa (now B. plumosa )

D. obtusa (now B. obtusa )

D. nivea (now B. nivea )

D. longifolia (now B. prolata )

D. tenuifolia (now B. tenuis )

D. pteridifolia (now B. pteridifolia )

D. blechnifolia (now B. pellaeifolia )

Brown's 1830 arrangement

Twenty years later, Brown issued a supplement to his Prodromus, entitled Supplementum Primum Prodromi Florae Novae Hollandiae . He added a further 11 species to Dryandra, but transferred D. falcata into a new, monospecific genus as Hemiclidia Baxteri, on the grounds that its follicles always contained only a single seed. The remaining 23 Dryandra species were divided into three sections based on the number of seed separators in each follicle. He allowed for these groups to be given subgenus rather than sectional rank,^[2] but they are now treated as having been published as sections.^[3]

The first section was defined as containing those species with a single seed separator. This accounted for the majority of species, and was named Dryandra verae ("True Dryandra"). D. sect. Diplophragma, was a monotypic section containing D. bipinnatifida (now B. bipinnatifida ), the follicles of which Brown thought contained two separators. Finally, D. sect. Aphragmia was defined as containing four species that Brown thought lacked a seed separator altogether.^[2]

Brown's 1830 arrangement may be summarised as follows:^[2]

Genus Dryandra

Dryandra verae

D. floribunda (now B. sessilis )

D. cuneata (now B. obovata )

D. armata (now B. armata )

D. Serra (now B. serra )

D. concinna (now B. concinna )

D. foliolata (now B. foliolata )

D. squarrosa (now B. squarrosa )

D. formosa (now B. formosa )

D. mucronulata (now B. mucronulata )

D. Baxteri (now B. biterax )

D. plumosa (now B. plumosa )

D. obtusa (now B. obtusa )

D. arctotidis (now B. arctotidis )

D. nivea (now B. nivea )

D. Fraseri (now B. fraseri )

D. longifolia (now B. prolata )

D. seneciifolia (now B. seneciifolia )

D. tenuifolia (now B. tenuis )

Section Diplophragma

D. bipinnatifida (now B. bipinnatifida )

Section Aphragma

D. nervosa (now B. alliacea )

D. callophylla (now B. calophylla )

D. pteridifolia (now B. pteridifolia )

D. blechnifolia (now B. pellaeifolia )

Genus Hemiclidia

H. Baxteri (now B. falcata )

Legacy

Brown's arrangement remained current until 1856, when Carl Meissner published his arrangement. In the interim a number of new species were published, notably in John Lindley's 1839 A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony , and by Meissner in J. G. C. Lehmann's 1845 Plantae Preissianae . However, the only significant change to Brown's classification was Stephan Endlicher's 1847 publication of Eudryandra as a replacement name for Brown's Dryandra verae.^[4]

Meissner's 1856 arrangement maintained Brown's distinction between Dryandra and Hemiclidia, and his three Dryandra sections, but further divided Eudryandra into eight series.^[5]^[6] George Bentham abandoned Hemiclidia in his 1870 arrangement, placing D. falcata within D. ser. Armatae because

"as far as I can understand the characters given, the difference in the fruit upon which the genus Hemiclidia was founded is merely the result of the abortion of one ovule, which occurs occasionally or perhaps constantly in one or two other species of Dryandra."^[7]

He also discarded D. sect. Diplophragma, placing B. bipinnatifida in section Aphragma, on the grounds that

"in the few seeds that I have been able to examine, the separation of the integument from the nucleus when not consolidated with the corresponding integument of the other seed has not appeared to me to be at all constant."^[7]

Thus of Brown's names, only Aphragma was still accepted.

In 1996, Alex George published a new arrangement. He revived the names Hemiclidia and Diplophragma, but with somewhat different circumscriptions. Both were given subgeneric rank, and Eudryandra was replaced by the autonymic subgenus D. subg. Dryandra. Aphragma was retained, but demoted to series rank within subgenus Dryandra.^[8] This arrangement was current until early 2007, when Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele transferred the entire genus Dryandra into Banksia on the grounds that Banksia was paraphyletic with respect to Dryandra. As Mast and Thiele were not yet ready to propose an infrageneric classification for their new circumscription of Banksia, they transferred Dryandra into Banksia at series rank, so as to cause minimal disruption to the current arrangement of Banksia. Thus the rich infrageneric classification of Dryandra, including all of Brown's taxa, has been set aside, at least temporarily.^[9]

Related Research Articles

Banksia subg. Isostylis is a subgenus of Banksia. It contains three closely related species, all of which occur only in Southwest Western Australia. Members of subgenus Isostylis have dome-shaped flower heads that are superficially similar to those of B. ser. Dryandra, but structurally more like reduced versions of the "flower spikes" characteristic of most other Banksia taxa.

Banksia dryandroides, the dryandra-leaved banksia, is a species of small shrub in the plant genus Banksia. The Noongar peoples know the tree as manyat. It occurs in shrubland, woodland and kwongan on the south coast of Western Australia between Narrikup and Beaufort Inlet. The species is placed alone in series B. ser. Dryandroideae.

Banksia speciosa, commonly known as the showy banksia, is a species of large shrub or small tree in the family Proteaceae. It is found on the south coast of Western Australia between Hopetoun (33°57′ S) and the Great Australian Bight, growing on white or grey sand in shrubland. Reaching up to 8 m (26 ft) in height, it is a single-stemmed plant that has thin leaves with prominent triangular "teeth" along each margin, which are 20–45 cm (7.9–17.7 in) long and 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 in) wide. The prominent cream-yellow flower spikes known as inflorescences appear throughout the year. As they age they develop up to 20 follicles each that store seeds until opened by fire. Though widely occurring, the species is highly sensitive to dieback and large populations of plants have succumbed to the disease.

Banksia fraseri is a species of shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has hairy stems, broadly linear pinnatisect leaves with between four and eighteen sharply-pointed lobes on each side, between eighty and one hundred pink to cream-coloured flowers and wege-shaped follicles.

Banksia acuminata is a rare prostrate shrub endemic to south-west Western Australia. It was published in 1848 as Dryandra preissii, but transferred into Banksia as B. acuminata in 2007.

Banksia splendida, commonly known as shaggy dryandra, is a species of shrub that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has sharply-pointed linear leaves that are woolly on the lower surface, cream-coloured and maroon or yellow flowers in heads of between 65 and 115, and later up to eight egg-shaped follicles in each head.

Dryandra subg. Diplophragma is an obsolete subgenus within the former genus Dryandra. It was first published by Robert Brown in 1830, but was discarded by George Bentham in 1870. It was reinstated with a new circumscription by Alex George in 1996, but was ultimately discarded again in 2007 when Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele sunk Dryandra into Banksia.

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Banksia sect. Eubanksia is an obsolete section of Banksia. There have been two circumscriptions, one of which is synonymous with the recently abandoned B. subg. Banksiasensu Alex George, the other having no modern equivalent.

Alex George's taxonomic arrangement of Dryandra was the first modern-day arrangement of that taxon. First published in Nuytsia in 1996, it superseded the arrangement of George Bentham, which had stood for over a hundred years; it would later form the basis for George's 1999 treatment of Dryandra for the Flora of Australia. In accordance with contemporary thinking, George treated Dryandra as a genus, dividing it into three subgenera, the largest of which was divided into 24 series. The arrangement stood until 2007, when Dryandra was transferred into Banksia as B. ser. Dryandra. No alternative has yet been proposed.

George Bentham's taxonomic arrangement of Dryandra was published in 1870, in Volume 5 of Bentham's Flora Australiensis. It replaced the 1856 arrangement of Carl Meissner, and stood for over a century before being replaced by the 1996 arrangement of Alex George.

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Banksia spinulosa var. spinulosa is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia, in Queensland and New South Wales.

Dryandra subg. Hemiclidia is an obsolete plant taxon that encompassed material that is now included in Banksia. Published at genus rank as Hemiclidia by Robert Brown in 1830, it was set aside by George Bentham in 1870, but reinstated at subgenus rank by Alex George in 1996. In 2007, all Dryandra species were transferred into Banksia at series rank, and the infrageneric Dryandra taxa, including D. subg. Hemiclidia, were set aside.

Dryandra ser. Niveae is an obsolete series within the former genus Dryandra. It was first published by George Bentham in 1870, and was given a new circumscription by Alex George in 1996, but was ultimately discarded in 2007 when Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele sunk Dryandra into Banksia.

Dryandra subg. Dryandra is an obsolete clade of plant. It was a series within the former genus Dryandra. The name was first published at sectional rank as Dryandra verae in 1830, before being renamed Eudryandra in 1847, the replaced by the autonym at subgenus rank in 1996. It was ultimately discarded in 2007 when Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele sunk Dryandra into Banksia.

Dryandra ser. Ilicinae is an obsolete series within the former genus Dryandra. It was first published by Carl Meissner in 1856, but was discarded by George Bentham in 1870. It was reinstated with a new circumscription by Alex George in 1996, but was ultimately discarded again in 2007 when Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele sunk Dryandra into Banksia.

Dryandra ser. Plumosae is an obsolete series within the former genus Dryandra. It was published by Alex George in 1996, but discarded in 2007 when Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele sank Dryandra into Banksia.

Dryandra ser. Aphragma is an obsolete series within the former genus Dryandra. It was first published at sectional rank by Robert Brown in 1830, and was retained at that rank until 1999, when Alex George demoted it to a series. It was discarded in 2007 when Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele sank Dryandra into Banksia.

References

1 2 Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen . London: Taylor. pp. 106–107.
1 2 3 Brown, Robert (1830). Supplementum Primum Prodromi Florae Novae Hollandiae . London: Taylor.
↑ e.g. "Dryandra sect. Diplophragma R.Br". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
↑ Endlicher, Stephan (1847). Genera Plantarum Secundum Ordines Naturales Disposita Supplement 4. pp. 88.
↑ Meissner, Carl (1856). "XLIV. Dryandra". In de Candolle, A. P. (ed.). Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis . Vol. XIV. Paris: Sumptibus Sociorum Treuttel et Wurtz. pp. 467–481.
↑ Meissner, Carl (1856). "XLV. Hemiclidia". In de Candolle, A. P. (ed.). Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis . Vol. XIV. Paris: Sumptibus Sociorum Treuttel et Wurtz. pp. 481–482.
1 2 Bentham, George (1870). "Dryandra". Flora Australiensis . Vol. 5: Myoporineae to Proteaceae. London: L. Reeve & Co. pp. 562–584.
↑ George, Alex S. (1999). "Dryandra". In Wilson, Annette (ed.). Flora of Australia . Vol. 17B: Proteaceae 3: Hakea to Dryandra. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing / Australian Biological Resources Study. pp. 251–363. ISBN 0-643-06454-0.
↑ Mast, Austin R. and Kevin Thiele (2007). "The transfer of Dryandra R.Br. to Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)". Australian Systematic Botany . 20: 63–71. doi:10.1071/SB06016.