No. 115 JUNE 2003 Price: $5.00 Australian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 115 (June 2003) AUSTRALIAN SYSTEMATIC BOTANY SOCIETY INCORPORATED Office Bearers President Vice President Stephen Hopper John Clarkson Kings Park & Botanic Garden Centre for Tropical Agriculture West Perth WA 6005 PO Box 1054 tel: (08) 9480 3605 Mareeba QLD 4880 email: [email protected] tel: (07) 4048 4745 email: [email protected] Secretary Treasurer Brendan Lepschi Anthony Whalen Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research Australian National Herbarium Australian National Herbarium GPO Box 1600, Canberra GPO Box 1600, Canberra ACT 2601 ACT 2601 tel: (02) 6246 5167 tel: (02) 6246 5175 email: [email protected] email: [email protected] Councillor Councillor R.O.(Bob) Makinson Andrew Rozefelds Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney Tasmanian Herbarium Mrs Macquaries Road GPO Box 252-40 Sydney NSW 2000 Hobart, Tasmania 7001 tel: (02) 9231 8111 tel.: (03) 6226 2635 email: [email protected] email: [email protected] Public Officer Annette Wilson Australian Biological Resources Study Environment Australia GPO Box 787 CANBERRA ACT 2601 tel: (02) 6250 9417 email: [email protected] Affiliate Society Papua New Guinea Botanical Society ASBS Web site www.anbg.gov.au/asbs Webmaster: Murray Fagg Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research Australian National Herbarium Email: [email protected] (No loose-leaf inclusions with this issue) Publication dates of previous issue Austral.Syst.Bot.Soc.Nsltr 114 (March 2003 issue) Hardcopy: 5th May 2003; ASBS Web site: 2nd May 2003 Australian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 115 (June 2003) From the President In April, together with a few other members of Californian botanists have passed away since then ASBS, I was lucky enough to attend the joint – Ledyard Stebbins, Lincoln Constance, Robert Third International Monocots Conference and Ornduff, Herbert Baker. On the other hand, the Fourth International Grasses Conference in Los venerable patron of southern Californian botany, Angeles. Systematic sessions comprised a Bob Thorne was an active participant at the significant part of both programs. The major conference and on field excursions. A sprinkling advances in understanding from the perspective of enthusiastic younger Californians was also of molecular systematics reported in Sydney in present. But decline nonetheless was my 1998 were consolidated. overriding impression. It was interesting to observe that sequences of up Funding these days is much more directed to to 17 genes are now available for some monocot those Californians who work in the tropics or groups. This has enabled previously unresolved elsewhere out of State, or solely in molecular relationships to be clarified. For example, labs. Yet, using the revised Jepson Manual for previously it was unclear whether Philydraceae or Higher Plants of California during fieldwork Ponterderiaceae were sister to Haemodoraceae. subsequent to the conferences reinforced that Canadian Sean Graham presented recent data that much remains to be done in several groups by unequivocally establish Ponterderiaceae as sister systematic botanists in this species-rich State. to Haemodoraceae, and these two families sister The challenges facing plant systematics in to Philydraceae. Australia are not unique. Other papers highlighted new insights on the On a related matter, the Federal Government’s systematic relationships of Australian monocots, budget has resulted in significant cuts to ABRS including the highly divergent Dasypogonaceae, yet again. This is a significant concern. I would Ecdeiocoleaceae and the tropical grass genus encourage all members to write to the Minister on Micraria. The published proceedings, due out the matter, as I will do on behalf of the Society. next year, will provide much of interest and no doubt become standard references like their Arrangements for the ASBS annual general predecessors. Plant systematics remains alive and meeting in Melbourne late September are firming well at international level if this conference was up. Some interesting sessions at the associated anything to go on. conference are also being finalised. Hope to see you there. Californian systematic botany, however, was not as strongly represented as might have been Steve Hopper expected. The decline in interest in the native flora of the golden State was evident since my Email:[email protected]. last visit 10 years ago. Many of the legendary Articles The collecting history of the eastern Australian species of Pultenaea Sm. (Leguminosae) Rogier de Kok Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK Pultenaea Sm. is the biggest genus within the The oldest specimens were collected in 1770 by endemic Australian tribe: Mirbelieae (Legumin - Banks and Solander during the first James Cook osae). The eastern species (c. 80% of the taxa) exploration of the east coast of Australia. A few have been revised, with the support of ABRS, in more collections were made in 1792-1793 by de the last few years at the Centre for Plant la Billardière and in 1772 by Captain Christie. Biodiversity Research in Canberra. During this However, collecting did not seriously start until work 12,000 specimens were studied, named and the establishment of the first settlement in Sydney databased. The resulting database enables us to Harbour at the end of the 18th Century (see fig. 1). ask a few questions about the collecting history of In the following years the number of collected Pultenaea in the last 200 hundred years. specimens rose considerably, but in the first 70 1 Australian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 115 (June 2003) years the number of specimens collected per year species concept then the increase would have remained stable (around a 100 a year). After been steeper, but the overall pattern of the figure 1870, it rose to an average of 300 to 500 would be the same. specimens a year and between 1950 and 1960 the The collecting history of the eastern species of number of collections skyrocketed to an average Pultenaea must be related to the history of of 1500 to 2500 specimens a year. In the last 10 colonisation and exploration, the rise of botanical years, the numbers have declined to an average institutions and the mode of transportation. The between 1000 and 1500 a year. This means that genus is very common in the temperate higher the vast majority of specimens of eastern species rainfall areas of the continent and is particularly of Pultenaea were collected after 1950. species rich on the Sydney sandstone and along the New South Wales south coast, the areas N around Melbourne, the Grampians, the southern o. Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, and in the s New South Wales – Queensland border region. p These areas were either colonised first or were e c surveyed relatively early and therefore the i potential access to new forms of Pultenaea must m have been high. The rise in collection numbers e n after 1870 is probably the result of the s establishment of the botanical institutions in the capital cities. The expansion of these institutions could explain the enormous rise in the collections after 1950. The fall in number after about 1910 and during the 1930 and forties could have been Fig. 1. Number of specimens collected per decade. caused by the world wars and economical recessions. A different explanation could be that In the second figure, the total number of first Williamson, who revised the genus in a series of collections of each species is presented articles in the 1920, made many extra new cumulatively. The figure shows that directly after collections. In this scenario, we would be looking settlement the number of new species of at an increase in collection for Pultenaea in the Pultenaea collected rose considerably. But, it also 1920s, rather than a decrease in the 1910s and shows that between 1820 and 1950, the number 1930s. of new species collected remained stable and that The second figure is more difficult to explain. after 1950 no new species were collected at all. First only a few species were collected by sea- This means that the average collector in 1820 had bound expeditions, but after settlement the the same chance of collecting a new form of number of new species collected rose quickly. Pultenaea as the average collector in 1950. This However, from 1820 the average collector has the is surprising given that the huge increase in new same chance of collecting a new form of collections since 1950 (see fig.1). Based on this it Pultenaea as in 1950. This suggests that many is therefore also very unlikely for substantial parts of the eastern temperate higher rainfall areas number of new forms of Pultenaea to be of eastern Australia were not fully explored until collected in the future. Of course new species the 1950s. The fact that no new forms have been have been described since 1950, but specimens found since suggests that these areas now may were collected before that time and belong to have been fully explored and that any new forms those new forms that were always present in being described today are probably already various herbaria. This pattern is independent of present in the Australian herbaria. your species concept. If I had used a narrower It would be interesting to compare the collecting history of Pultenaea with that of other groups occurring in the same area. It is likely that groups N with a similar distribution and habit (woody o. plants) should give a similar result, independent t of species concepts. a x Postscript a In November 2002, I have started my new job, working on South-East Asian plants at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and I would be happy to correspond with anybody about this article, Fig. 2. Discovery of species as indicated by collection of oldest Pultenaea or South-East Asian plants in general.