The Ebenaceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to order Ericales. The family includes ebony and persimmon among about 768 species of trees and shrubs. It is distributed across the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world. It is most diverse in the rainforests of Malesia, India, tropical Africa and tropical America.
The Salicornioideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae. Important characters are succulent, often articulated stems, strongly reduced leaves, and flowers aggregated in thick, dense spike-shaped thyrses. These halophytic plants are distributed worldwide.
The Amaranthoideae are a subfamily of the Amaranthaceae. The stamens have anthers with two lobes (locules) and four pollen sacs. The main distribution of the subfamily is in tropical America, in tropical and Southern Africa, and in Australia.
Nymphoides, or floatingheart, is a genus of aquatic flowering plants in the family Menyanthaceae. The genus name refers to their resemblance to the water lily Nymphaea. Nymphoides are aquatic plants with submerged roots and floating leaves that hold the small flowers above the water surface. Flowers are sympetalous, most often divided into five lobes (petals). The petals are either yellow or white, and may be adorned with lateral wings or covered in small hairs. The inflorescence consists of either an umbellate cluster of flowers or a lax raceme, with internodes occurring between generally paired flowers.
The rosids are members of a large clade of flowering plants, containing about 70,000 species, more than a quarter of all angiosperms.
The genus Tacca, which includes the batflowers and arrowroot, consists of flowering plants in the order Dioscoreales, native to tropical regions of South America, Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, and various oceanic islands. In older texts, the genus was treated in its own family Taccaceae, but the 2003 APG II system incorporates it into the family Dioscoreaceae. The APG III and APG IV systems continue to include Tacca in Dioscoreaceae.
Acanthospermum is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae, also known as starburrs or starburs. It was described as a genus in 1820.
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.
The taxonomy of Banksia integrifolia has a long and complex history, the result of confusion caused by the species' great variability, and similarities with some closely related species. The existence of hybrids between B. integrifolia and related species as well as early attempts to classify the species based on dried specimen material have also contributed to the confusion.
Banksia vestita, commonly known as summer dryandra, is a species of shrub that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has broadly linear, pinnatifid leaves with sharply pointed teeth on both sides, yellow flowers in heads of between thirty and forty, and broadly egg-shaped follicles.
Kevin R. Thiele is currently an adjunct associate professor at the University of Western Australia and the director of Taxonomy Australia. He was the curator of the Western Australian Herbarium from 2006 to 2015. His research interests include the systematics of the plant families Proteaceae, Rhamnaceae and Violaceae, and the conservation ecology of grassy woodland ecosystems. He also works in biodiversity informatics, developing and teaching the development of interactive multi-access keys, and has been involved in the design of software for the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Aerva is a genus of plants in the family Amaranthaceae. Its species are native to the palaeotropics, throughout continental Africa, Madagascar and smaller islands, through parts of the Middle East, India, and southeast Asia. Aerva javanica (Burm.f.) Schult. is an alien in northern Australia.
Xylopia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Annonaceae. They are mostly trees and some shrubs. There are about 160 species distributed in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Adenolobus is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Cercidoideae.
Isopogon trilobus, commonly known as barrel- or three-lobed cone flower is a shrub that is endemic to south coastal regions of Western Australia. It has distinctive lobed leaves and yellow flowerheads which appear in spring and summer. It is one of the many species described by the botanist Robert Brown
Cassine is a genus of trees, of the plant family Celastraceae.
Pseudogaltonia is a genus of bulbous flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It is distributed in southern Africa.
Spermacoceae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 1346 species in 57 genera. Its representatives are found in the tropics and subtropics.
Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas, where they have been cultivated for thousands of years. Capsicums are cultivated worldwide and used in many cuisines.
Allenrolfea is a genus of shrubs in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus was named for the English botanist Robert Allen Rolfe. There are three species, ranging from North America to South America.
