Nothorites

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Nothorites
Nothorites megacarpus ALA3.jpg
Inflorescence
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Subfamily: Grevilleoideae
Tribe: Macadamieae
Subtribe: Macadamiinae
Genus: Nothorites
P.H.Weston & A.R.Mast [3] [4]
Species:
N. megacarpus
Binomial name
Nothorites megacarpus
(A.S.George & B.Hyland) P.H.Weston & A.R.Mast [5] [6]
Synonyms [4]

Orites megacarpaA.S.George & B.Hyland

Nothorites is a monotypic genus in the macadamia family Proteaceae. The sole species, Nothorites megacarpus, is endemic to the wet tropics rain forests of northeastern Queensland, Australia.

Contents

Description

Nothorites megacarpus is a tree growing up to 25 m (82 ft) tall, with a light brown lenticellate bark. [7] The simple leaves have smooth margins and are arranged alternately on the twigs. They are dark glossy green and measure up to 10 cm (3.9 in) long by 3 cm (1.2 in) wide, and are held on a thickened petiole about 1.2 cm (0.5 in) long. [7] [8] [9] :865 [10]

The inflorescences are panicles produced either terminally or in the leaf axils. The cream coloured, pedicellate flowers are in pairs but do not share a peduncle. The perianth is about 6 mm (0.24 in) long and the entire flower is finely hairy. [7] [8] [9] :865 [10]

The fruit is a green or brown follicle which dehisces at maturity and contains 2 flat seeds, each with a narrow marginal wing. The fruit measure up to 4 cm (1.6 in) long by 2 cm (0.8 in) wide. [7] [8] [9] :865 [10]

Phenology

Flowering occurs from November to March, while fruit ripen from October to January. [7] [10]

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the Australian botanists Alex George and Bernard Hyland, based on plant material collected from Mount Bartle Frere in 1986. They gave it the name Orites megacarpa and their work was published in 1995 in volume 16 of the book series Flora of Australia. [7] [11] Later, detailed genetic studies of the tribe Macadamieae conducted by Austin Mast and colleagues demonstrated that O. megacarpa was more closely related to the South American genus Panopsis than it was to the genus Orites , [9] :857 resulting in the transfer of this species to the new genus Nothorites in 2008. [9] :843

Etymology

The genus name Nothorites is a combination of the Ancient Greek νόθος (nóthos), meaning bastard, illegitimate, or spurious; combined with the name of the genus that this plant was originally placed in, i.e. Orites. It points to the unsuitable taxonomic placement the plant was initially given. [9] :865 The species epithet megacarpus comes from the prefix mega- (great, large) and the suffix -carp (fruit). [10]

Distribution and habitat

The range of this species is restricted to two small refugia, one in Mount Lewis National Park north of Cairns, and the other on Mount Bartle Frere south of Cairns. The habitat is microphyll vine forest on granitic soils, at altitudes above 1,000 m (3,300 ft). [7] [8] [12] The species has a very small area of occupancy of just 40 km2 (15 sq mi). [1] [lower-alpha 1]

Conservation

This species has been rated as least concern by Queensland's Department of Environment and Science, [2] however the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has given the species a classification of endangered. In their summary, the IUCN gives the reason for this assessment as declining habitat due to climate change, combined with a very small area of occupancy. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Macadamia</i> Genus of plants indigenous to Australia

Macadamia is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia, native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Two species of the genus are commercially important for their fruit, the macadamia nut. Global production in 2015 was 160,000 tonnes. Other names include Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut, bauple nut and, in the US, they are also known as Hawaii nut. It was an important source of bushfood for the Aboriginal peoples.

<i>Floydia</i> Monotypic genus in the plant family Proteaceae

Floydia is a monotypic genus of plants in the macadamia family Proteaceae which is endemic to Australia. The sole described species is Floydia praealta, commonly known as the ball nut. It is a somewhat rare tree found only growing in the rainforests of southeastern Queensland and northeastern New South Wales. The tree has a superficial resemblance to the closely related Macadamia and could be confused with them. The fruit of F. praealta is poisonous.

<i>Athertonia</i> Monotypic genus of trees in the family Proteaceae

Athertonia is a monotypic genus of plants in the family Proteaceae. The sole described species is Athertonia diversifolia, commonly known as Atherton oak, athertonia, creamy silky oak or white oak. It is endemic to a small part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia. A relative of the macadamia, it has potential in horticulture and the bushfood industry.

<i>Hicksbeachia</i> Genus of trees in the family Proteaceae from eastern Australia

Hicksbeachia is a genus of two species of trees in the family Proteaceae. They are native to rainforests of northern New South Wales and southeastern Queensland. They are commonly known as red bopple nut or beef nut due to the bright red colour of their fruits.

<i>Eidothea</i> Genus of rainforest trees in the family Proteaceae

Eidothea is a genus of two species of rainforest trees in New South Wales and Queensland, in eastern Australia, constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae. The plant family Proteaceae was named after the shape-shifting god Proteus of Greek mythology. The genus name Eidothea refers to one of the three daughters of Proteus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proteaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentrations of diversity. Together with the Platanaceae, Nelumbonaceae and in the recent APG IV system the Sabiaceae, they make up the order Proteales. Well-known 'Proteaceae genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea, Hakea and Macadamia. Species such as the New South Wales waratah, king protea, and various species of Banksia, Grevillea, and Leucadendron are popular cut flowers. The nuts of Macadamia integrifolia are widely grown commercially and consumed, as are those of Gevuina avellana on a smaller scale.

Triunia is a genus of medium to tall shrubs or small trees found as understorey plants in rainforests of eastern Australia. Members of the plant family Proteaceae, they are notable for their poisonous fleshy fruits or drupes. Only one species, T. youngiana, is commonly seen in cultivation.

<i>Orites</i> Genus of plants in the family Proteaceae

Orites is a genus of nine plant species in the family Proteaceae − seven are endemic to Australia, one is endemic to the Chilean Andes and one to Bolivia.

<i>Bleasdalea</i> Genus of plants in the family Proteaceae

Bleasdalea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae.

<i>Cardwellia</i> Monotypic genus of plants in the family Proteaceae

Cardwellia is a monotypic genus in the plant family Proteaceae. The sole described species is Cardwellia sublimis − commonly known as northern silky oak, bull oak or lacewood − which is endemic to the rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia.

Virotia is a genus of six species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. The genus is endemic to New Caledonia with six species that were once placed in Macadamia. Its closest relatives are the Australian Athertonia and the Asian Heliciopsis. The genus is named after Robert Virot, pioneer of ecological studies in New Caledonia and author of a monograph of New Caledonian Proteaceae.

<i>Eidothea zoexylocarya</i> Species of tree in the family Proteaceae

Eidothea zoexylocarya is a species of tall rainforest trees endemic to north-eastern Queensland, Australia and constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae. In European–Australian science, these trees were only recognised in recent decades, first from the slopes of Mount Bartle Frere, the Queensland mountain which reaches the highest altitude. In 1995, scientific descriptions of the trees, as this genus and type species, were published for the first time by Andrew W. Douglas and Bernie Hyland. The species name refers to the almost identical fossil fruit Xylocaryon lockiiF.Muell., from Ballarat, southern Australia, still extant in this north-eastern Australian species.

Hollandaea is a small genus of plants in the family Proteaceae containing four species of Australian rainforest trees. All four species are endemic to restricted areas of the Wet Tropics of northeast Queensland.

<i>Opisthiolepis</i> Genus of plants

Opisthiolepis is a monotypic genus of trees in the macadamia family Proteaceae. The sole species is Opisthiolepis heterophylla, commonly known as blush silky oak, pink silky oak, brown silky oak or drunk rabbit. It was first described in 1952 and is endemic to a small part of northeastern Queensland, Australia.

<i>Catalepidia</i> Genus of plants in the family Proteaceae

Catalepidia is a monotypic genus in the family Proteaceae which is endemic to Queensland, Australia. The sole described species is Catalepidia heyana, commonly known as Hey's nut oak. It is a medium sized tree growing up to about 18 m (59 ft) tall, and is found only in upland rainforest above 600 m (2,000 ft) on granite soils, ranging from the Windsor Tableland to the Atherton Tableland.

Sphalmium is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the protea family. The only species, Sphalmium racemosum, is a large forest tree. Common names include satin silky oak, mystery oak, Mt Lewis oak, poorman's fishtail oak and buff silky oak.

<i>Carnarvonia araliifolia</i> Species of plant in the family Proteaceae

Carnarvonia araliifolia, commonly known as the red oak, red silky oak, Caledonian oak or elephant's foot, is the sole species in the monotypic genus Carnarvonia, a member of the Proteaceae plant family. It is endemic to the rainforests of northeastern Queensland.

<i>Lasjia</i> Genus of trees of the family Proteaceae

Lasjia is a genus of five species of trees of the family Proteaceae. Three species grow naturally in northeastern Queensland, Australia and two species in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Descriptively they are the tropical or northern macadamia trees group. Lasjia species characteristically branched compound inflorescences differentiate them from the Macadamia species, of Australia, which have characteristically unbranched compound inflorescences and only grow naturally about 1,000 km (620 mi) further to the south, in southern and central eastern Queensland and in northeastern New South Wales.

<i>Macadamia ternifolia</i> Species of tree

Macadamia ternifolia is a tree in the flowering plant family Proteaceae, native to Queensland in Australia, and is listed as vulnerable under the EPBC Act.

<i>Baileyoxylon</i> Genus of plants in the family Achariaceae

Baileyoxylon is a monotypic genus in the family Achariaceae. The sole described species is Baileyoxylon lanceolatum which is restricted to a very small part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland. It was described in the mid 20th century.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Forster, P.; Ford, A.; Griffith, S.; Benwell, A. (2020). "Nothorites megacarpus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T118152001A122769071. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T118152001A122769071.en . Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Species profile—Nothorites megacarpus". Queensland Department of Environment and Science. Queensland Government. 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  3. "Nothorites". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, Australian Government . Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Nothorites P.H.Weston & A.R.Mast". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  5. "Nothorites megacarpus". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, Australian Government . Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  6. "Nothorites megacarpus (A.S.George & B.Hyland) P.H.Weston & A.R.Mast". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 George, A.S.; Hyland, B.P.M. (2022). "Orites megacarpa". Flora of Australia . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 4 F.A. Zich; B.P.M Hyland; T. Whiffen; R.A. Kerrigan (2020). "Nothorites megacarpus". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Edition 8. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mast, Austin R.; Willis, Crystal L.; Jones, Eric H.; Downs, Katherine M.; Weston, Peter H. (July 2008). "A smaller Macadamia from a more vagile tribe: inference of phylogenetic relationships, divergence times, and diaspore evolution in Macadamia and relatives (tribe Macadamieae; Proteaceae)". American Journal of Botany. 95 (7): 843–870. doi:10.3732/ajb.0700006. ISSN   1537-2197. PMID   21632410.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Cooper, Wendy; Cooper, William T. (June 2004). Fruits of the Australian Tropical Rainforest. Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia: Nokomis Editions. p. 419. ISBN   978-0958174213.
  11. "Orites megacarpa". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, Australian Government . Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  12. "Search: species: Orites megacarpa | Occurrence records". Australasian Virtual Herbarium . Australian Government . Retrieved 8 January 2024.

Notes

  1. For a definition of Area of Occupancy see this page at the Atlas of Living Australia