''Austrocallerya'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s belonging to the subfamily

Faboideae The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae, or Papilionaceae when this group of plants is treated as a family. This subfamily is wide ...

in the family

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

. They are robust, twining woody

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

s. Its native range is from

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

to eastern Australia and islands in the

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

Description

Species of ''Austrocallerya'' are a robust twining woody

s, reaching high. The mature stems have flaky, peeling bark. The leaves are evergreen and generally have 4–18 paired leaflets plus a terminal leaflet. The leaflets are long by wide. The robust

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a many-flowered terminal

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

, long. The individual flowers are long and have the general shape of members of the subfamily

. The standard

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

is long by wide and of various colours from whitish to purple, with a greenish yellow or lime green nectar guide. The purple or maroon wing petals are equal in length to the keel at long by wide, with short basal claws. The keel petals are long by wide, united into a cup. They are dark reddish, purple or maroon in two of the species and white with purple tips in ''A. megasperma''. Nine of the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are fused together, the other is free; all curve upwards at the apex. The inflated seed pods are long by wide, with hollow cavities holding generally 2–6 seeds.

Taxonomy

In 1912,

Stephen Troyte Dunn Stephen Troyte Dunn (26 August 1868, Bristol - 18 April, 1938, Sheen, Surrey, England) was a British botanist. He described and systematized a significant number of plants around the world, his input most noticeable in the taxonomy of the flora ...

recognized the distinctiveness of three

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

n species then placed in the genus ''

Millettia ''Millettia'' is a genus of legume in the family Fabaceae. It consists of about 150 species, which are distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The genus was formerly known by the name ''Pongamia'', but that name was r ...

'', and created a separate section, ''Austromillettia'', for them. A 2019

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study found that the three species did not belong either in the genus ''Millettia'' or in the genus ''

Callerya ''Callerya'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. Genetic analysis shows ''Callerya'' and ''Wisteria'' to be each other's closest relatives and quite distinct from other members of ...

'' where they had later been placed, but instead formed a distinct clade, sister to ''

Padbruggea ''Padbruggea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. Its native range stretches from southern China to western Malesia. Description ''Padbruggea'' species are scrambling climbers, reaching heights of up to . Their stems are dark ...

'', within a newly expanded tribe

Wisterieae Wisterieae is a Tribe (biology), tribe of flowering plants in the bean family Fabaceae. The tribe was first described in 1994 for the sole genus ''Wisteria'', but was greatly expanded in 2019 to include 13 genera, six of which were new. Five had ...

. Accordingly, the genus ''Austrocallerya'' was established. The genus name refers to the southern hemisphere distribution of the species and their former placement in ''Callerya''. ''Austrocallerya'' species can be distinguished from ''Padbruggea'' by a number of features, including the more upright

s, the broader standard petals, and the more linear seed pods.

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

accepted three species: *'' Austrocallerya australis'' *'' Austrocallerya megasperma'' *'' Austrocallerya pilipes''

Distribution

''Austrocallerya'' species are native to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in eastern Australia, and various islands in the

(the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

, the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

, the

Tuamotus The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extendin ...

and

Tubuai Tubuai or Tupuai is the main island of the Austral Island group, located south of Tahiti. In addition to Tubuai, the group of islands include Rimatara, Rurutu, Raivavae, Rapa and the uninhabited Îles Maria. They are part of the Austral Isla ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q93748410 Wisterieae Fabaceae genera