Corynanthera, a New Genus of Myrtaceae
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Corynanthera,a new genusof Myrtaceae (Subfamily Leptospermoideae,Tribe Chamelaucieae) By J. W. Green (WesternAustralian Herbarium) Abstract _ Corynanthera.fluvo J. W. Creen gen. et sp. nov. is describedan<I discussed. Its-trrsporangjareJLrnilocular anthers are distinctive and possibly unique. It rs luJther characterjsedby the filaments produced into stipitate,_terminal ap_ penoage).the slamensattefnalel) dimorphic. lhe nowerszJgomorphic and the inflorescencea + terminal, splkelik_e raceme of yellow-floweis. It is mo,st closefy rclaled to Microm),rtis Benth. and is endemic in a small area 200 km north of Perth, WesternAustralia. CorynantheraJ. W. Greengen, nov, Frrl//.r racemis te[minalibus_spiciformibus. Folia opposita decussata. F/o/er solitarii, axxrarec.TJgomorpht,.tubo dorst\.enrraliLer comprerso. StaminalO: filarnenloin qlipite nlll9fTr qfod !1919 .Clandem rerm,inalem ferente. Anrheraeunilocu lares foro uno dehiscenres, mlcro\poranglrsJ In uno ptanodlsposjLis. Ovarium uniloculare. Orrll2. ad venamsrylarem po5lrcamrn parte o\arii renia collateralileramj.i_ Type species: C.-Jlaya,I,. W. Green, the only known species. The generic name refers to the clublike appendagesassoCiated with ihe anthers. Shrub wjth small, estipulate, decussate leayes. Jnflorescencea terninal or sutr-terminal spikeJike raceme.. Flowers solitary, in-the axils of the upper-tibe teaves, sub,tended by two persistent bracteoles, zygomorphic; florcl o,orsrventrafty_compressed._the tree.part inclined towards the axisl sepals 5, the ?ntedor 2 larger and the posterior smaller than the other 2; pitqli 5, ex- ceedingthe sepals. Slazcrs 5 F 5. in two scarcelydistinguishable whorls, the outer, antepetalous stamens with the filament irroducei into a filiform stipe bearing a large, irregularll-shapedor 1 globuiar appendageabore rhe anlner:.1neInner. tntesepalous. stamens uith a shorterfilament and a smaller, elllpsordal. appendage level with the outer anlhers, Anthers versatile, sub- globular (some$hat dorsi\entally.compressed). uniplanar. trisporangiate, ynilocular, with ore micro-sporangiumabove and two below. introrre] de_ hrscfng,bya pore. central . Ova.ryinferror. the uall consistingofa thin, fibrous, granourar,ouler layer. a broad aere_nchymalousmiddle zone and a fragile, membrano-usin_ner layeri locule l, small, in the upper half or third. placZnti lateral wthtn the ovary. attached to the stylar vein which passesjust inside the outer layer.onthe posreriorside. Ovrles2. ellipsoidal.collaterally atrached aDo\e.lne,.mrddle. ,Aerenchymaand m_embranebreaking do$n. presumably arrer.Tenl Zatron. (herr place apparen y eventually becoming occupied by rne srngreseec. Jee.1not seenmature. Within Chamelaucieae..which .., ,the aredistinguished by a unilocularovary wrlh a srngleplacenta and indehiscen_t.dry fruit \ ith l_2 seeds(Bentham 1867), Corynanthera falls into a small group -of genera contalniig Tht1,p_ tomene,and Micromynus, most species of which have 5 or 10 free itamefs, regularfyopposrte sepaisor pelals.without 5tamiDodia. Corynonthera,while sharing lhese characteri5ticswith Thryptomeneand Micromyrtus, is distin_ suished.fromboth generaby its trisporangiate.unilocular ant-hers,the associ_ ated. drmorphrc appendages and the spikeJike inflorescence of closely- appressed,yellow flowers. I 69t '(€orDeues eql tuorJ qsa{ '01-l) lelloletu'/l SJ-II :Jo)seqJu!/,\ s)lrLu y LrlorJ poosSuldolr\oc :fLu)rotEl .lo lA 8l'uDwdotl)'ts)ur:,rrel(tsSurmoqc,{re,1g /l 9l orppruipurji'trjibt ltrin.riuur 91:{o)5llrJSulleJJo\l!oJorr(el'cnolEdDs.lue r.lno qr^\ !3urrj reln€5rrr3ur{otls puelD'sl :snolelodrluetl f zl fI T TI 'suacueid''I ar sirauels-rqd.rourrp 8ur,,,roqs'Lunrrtorpuv'Ol :!Pl)d-'6:sledes'8 / 1j":riis 'rr^\old '9 'e-t :oqnl possorduroc8ur^\oqs,&eI^ :0au).srrouul : SJ pue ^\€l^ IEroUi;ue] lsrolEl'lrqeg 'l reaiol !-7 lgcuerq eiro 1b 11eqraddn r','Dg[uaqtulu'hoJ ,l-I saJnBrC ; f r il A.\ \ ln - VflV ,,,, ' f/ 0,, v,t, I /A\ t ,._.. o, {:,"/ ,,€M" :/\ ,4: ,NO 4@W@) 6& l* 0 025mm Figures 18 26. Corynantheraffava. 18, T.S. Inflorescence,showing centtal axis, ante- petalous anthers (p) (upper), antesepalousanthe$ (s) (lower), floral tube at two levels of ovules(ov) (left and right); 19, Flower, L.S. showing antepetalousstamen (lelt), antesepalous stamen(right) and developingseed; 20, Antepetalousanther and gland, L.S. showingstomium (st) alter dehiscence;2l-25, Anther-2l, tangential L.S. showing three mjcrosporangia 22, T.S. upper sporangium-23, T.S. above stomium showing three sporangia-24, T.S. below stomium showingtwo sporangia 25, T.S. showingfibrous-banded endothecium (et), junction of t\,r'o sporangia and pollen grains; 26, Floral tube and bracteoles,T.S. showing ovary, including ovules (ov), inner wall layer (i) and middle layer (m) (all frcm Green 4917). 370 \ ILE 'aler.t-passJrdruoJ se su:tlrBls(snol€des flpuoJgsvawqrfuol t/Z lnoqB 'u'^{orq -elue) Jeuur :8uol iirur l-8 O suawDls1sno1e1ado1ue) ralno 'A\elr 'papdoq '^btt:,{ 'cr1dr;1a,{lpeorq sPtal l{Fualut ,(rrr.iSrrs euiuL-ei'8uoturtu 9: 1 'Sulpuelds "'rrlp"rr"iui lceLas'iea:s ie:aieJ :.ro':e1uJ elr iu 3uo1ie;1eq lnoq" louolsod :sut8:eurelelnrtlueP ^llurEJ 01 eleJolllJslll J?eu teumeLuosl€das 'izo:q rnd'recsot irorctod-rlsrmolla,t ruurl PuE''11eursEuol urtu 9 0'l?lnrrrJluaslJara 'spiril6 snoraunu aruesa:d:ql slalas :o'riliry iro .no11aieled 1o 'lul€J rlo:r"uri^ uEnbr l?u^\rtuos eoeuns aqi'stedos e{i alrsoddosqu IEurPnlrauol '^a,n'ror::tueui:elnEiretrl Almotsuaaqn Ssol txul f-9 2 e,nu jsut8reu: 'pe^oJqlDJol! ;"lirsji srr^rp, a1et1tr;snorizrs :ql-roJ lderxe proleled eq1si 3uo1sE 'prleel 'elelldnPuoJ or']eust^ott:.{-'^tt.rnieur "'3uo1 te eqnl l"log '^uetu atuaisat6guJ pu? eEJEt ol ialoat"titg iu.r 7-7 luaururold 'iaqrue:q IErJ^os l 'eJrluJ ,o e161oi1rr,{lertiutur sur8reu'r ra8uno'{ sDuptS-tro seurlJtuos ',tlolaq all ilo' "tn"'jqu, 'peisardde,{lJenin':Euci1 tufu t-9' t Peles{ T ro 'D^ttbl Drd|tuDutQo)lo uollnqulslc'/Z efi8lJ Y'v rn.ns.l ru{ v VVVv Jtt 'elsses 'po^Jncep xe^uoJ 'o^oqB aA€JuoJ 'Jlldl e-,^{oJJ?u .sa,'(r27 seu]lel[os s8urpua qcud:q aql'seqcrierq reddn eql ol peuguoc,{ll€nsn se^tal'qAIq ruc re^og? 'es?g 'grrlrys 'lepuels 9LI-O€ Eurpea:ds ogl Jeou pelutllels-,{'\eJ }c0J0 .GtfUAa,) .qNyC :osr:HIUgd :otoq)8lql '8I6t '11 'relsogcull& 'coo 9 uaat) 7 ?IlerlsnYurelselA Jo l& IIII 9'lE :aa^J prorlerqptor.rerur:nueurulor 90"#fi"t':;BlTi,i"l eror,lr€d.Duera *"t"0",;t:3,'ir"J,liT,r-:'eclldllla-0]Bl c.o errdrrs'eduot u.iru i + erouetx: oujtuots etea'E3uol ulLll S'l '/'l'J :eiet 'e3uci1 i:nLi f rou i.6-97.g'Ellenbreul egeln ltltuos D/rdrg Lunlelso] rert^elalDto[- wnin t tRgot!JJ|J-Ja-c.7'satlsses.sr.rolr'seluelssr>cl)opal)Dtgeduol uJ L-Z DlluDsatoq :errlorlleotsnd[e tsntle 'snltoJo 'slllJer8 -4'*eauo1 uitu 9-!.1 zrloJ ur.: 511-gg x'r'{ '17-1 sa:nE1g-',Lou'ds uae:g 'd|I c^8UaJaqluBu,{roJ yellow. Anthers reddish-purple, 0.3 mm diameter. Filamentous continu- ation of the filament 0.3 mm long, curved over the anther, yellow. ,tf//e 0.5 mm long, the stigma at maturity level with the inner anthers. Selectedspecimens (all PERTH): 35 miles (56 km) W of Winchester, C. Chap- man, 14 Nov. 19751'25km W of Winchester,J. Il. Green 4917,6 Dec. 1978' 30 kn WSW of Winchester, J. ll. Green 4920, 6 Dec. 1978; 43 km SW of Winchester,J. W. Green4919,6 Dec. 1978; 39 miles (62 km) W of Coorow, C. Chapman,15Jan.1967l. Within 24 miles(38 km) W of Coorow, C. Chapman, 4 Jan. 1976; N end of Watheroo National Park, J. S. Beard 7880, 18 Sept. 1976;E boundary of Watheroo National Park, R. D. Rolce 9721,7 OcL 19'Il. Conserration ,s/alrJ: Density ranges from sparse to locally abundant. Pop- ulations occur in three National Parks. Because of the very small area of occuffence, however, and because the species has already proved attractive to the cut flower trade, it should be protected from commercial exploitation in the wild. Efforts are being rnade to bring it into cultivation. Distribution: an elliptical area some 70 km long, extending from Tathra Nat- ional Park to Watheroo National Park, about 200 km north of Perth, Western Australia (Figure 27). Habitat: heaths and shrublands where it is frequently associated with Xylo- meluru angustifoliun, Eucalyptus todtiana and Eucalyptus eudesmoideson pale, grey-brown, somewhat loamy sands over laterite. Annotated voucher speci- mens of the associated speciesare deposited in the Western Australian Herb- arium (PERTH). Flowering period: Septernberto February. Discussion The anther of Cor),nantheramay be described, using the terminology of Green (1980), as trisporangiate and unilocular (Figures 20-25). This is in sharp contrast with the remainder of the Myrtaceae which are only known to have tetrasporangiate anthers (Davis 1966), apparently always bilocular. The sporangia are uniplanar, as described by Prakash (1969) rn Darwinia mtcf opetqn, Two of the above characteristics of Corynanthera appear to be unique in the angiosperms. No record has been found in the literature of a iri- sporangiateanther. Eames (1961,p.114) noted that antherswith more than four sporangia were uncommon ot rare, except in forked or branched stamens, and that the larger number was nearly always eight, even this sometirnes "nearly resulting from connation. He regarded a smaller number, always two", as representing.a reduction from the basic four, giving several examples of bisporangiate families and genera. The only example glven of any oiher reduced number was Arceuthobium (Viscaceae)which has "with a single sporangium some trace of a second". lt seemsreasonable to speculatethaa the apparently trisporangiate anther of Corynanthera may be tetrasporangiate in origin.the appendageharing arisenfrom a fourth. sterilesporangium. Arother apparently unique feature of Cory)nantherais the single, porate, posterior stomium (Figures 8 9, 11-12,20), through which Dassthe coments of the three micro.porangia(figure 2lJ at anrhisis. Thus Lhe remainins \estigesof threemicrosporangial complrtments are hereinlerpreted as coml prising a singleloculus_(Green 1980J. Further embryologicalstudy may reveal the pore to be morphologicallyterminal, which would be-unusualin thi aneio- sDermsbut not unioue.