''Stockwellia'' is a
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
in the
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 ...
family
Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...
. The sole species in the genus, ''Stockwellia quadrifida'' (commonly known as Vic Stockwell's puzzle), is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
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_ ...
.
Description
''Stockwellia quadrifida'' is a very large
rainforest emergent, growing up to tall and
DBH. It has straight
boles with reddish-brown flaky bark and
buttress root
Buttress roots also known as plank roots are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They prevent the tree from falling over (hence t ...
s up to high.
The leaves are
opposite to sub-opposite,
glabrous
Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...
,
elliptic
In mathematics, an ellipse is a plane curve surrounding two focal points, such that for all points on the curve, the sum of the two distances to the focal points is a constant. It generalizes a circle, which is the special type of ellipse in ...
and leathery, measuring up to long by wide and turning red before falling.
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 ...
s are
axillary, produced in groups of three
sessile
Sessility, or sessile, may refer to:
* Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about
* Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant
* Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...
flowers on a
peduncle measuring in length. The fruits are a fused woody
capsule containing oval-shaped seeds measuring up to .
Discovery
This species first became known to botanical science in 1971, when
Atherton resident Keith Gould began experimenting with
aerial photography
Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography.
Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...
as a means of forestry interpretation. Some of his photos appeared to show a large group of emergent trees in a small patch of
rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
near
Topaz
Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al Si O( F, OH). It is used as a gemstone in jewelry and other adornments. Common topaz in its natural state is colorless, though trace element impurities can mak ...
, and he referred them to
Victor (Vic) Stockwell who was Queensland Forestry's ranger responsible for managing timber harvesting in that area. Despite Stockwell's vast experience in forestry he was unable to identify the trees from the photos, and so the two men ventured on foot into the forest to find them. When they encountered the trees, Stockwell realised that this was a species unknown both to himself and to botany in general.
Stockwell was surprised to discover a tree (especially a tree so massive, and growing close to forestry roads) of which he was unaware. It quickly aroused interest in botanical circles and became known colloquially as "Vic Stockwell's Puzzle", and was even mentioned in a scientific paper as ''Stockwellia'' long before a formal description and name was published.
Distribution and habitat
This species is endemic to a very small part of the luxuriant
Wet Tropics rainforests of north-eastern
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_ ...
, specifically an area on the western slopes of
Mount Bartle Frere
Mount Bartle Frere (pronunciation mæɔnt̥ ˈbɐːɾəɫ ˈfɹɪə Ngajanji: Choorechillum) is the highest mountain in Queensland at an elevation of . The mountain was named after Sir Henry Bartle Frere, a British colonial administrator and ...
where it is found only in well-developed rainforest. It occurs within an altitude range of about .
Taxonomy
The genus ''Stockwellia'' and the species ''S. quadrifida'' were first formally described in 2002, some thirty years after its discovery. The Australian botanists
Denis John Carr
Denis may refer to:
People
* Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris
* Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure
* Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), baron in the Kingdom of Hungary
* Denis the Carthusian (1402– ...
,
Maisie Carr
Maisie Carr (''née'' Fawcett; 1912–1988) was an innovative Australian ecologist and botanist who contributed much to the understanding of the uniqueness of Australian plants and their environmental systems.
Foundation years
Maisie Carr was ...
and
Bernard Hyland
Bernard Hyland (Bernard Patrick Matthew Hyland, born 1937), known as Bernie Hyland, is an Australian botanist.
He has contributed significantly to the understanding of Australian plants, in particular numerous species of his home and workplace ...
published their collaboration in the ''
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society
The ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'' is a scientific journal publishing original papers relating to the taxonomy of all plant groups and fungi, including anatomy, biosystematics, cytology, ecology, ethnobotany, electron microscopy, mo ...
'', based on material collected by Hyland.
Phylogeny
Genetic studies have shown that ''Stockwellia'' belongs in the "Eucalyptopsis alliance" (along with the genera ''Eucalyptopsis'' and ''Allosyncarpa'') and that ''Allosyncarpa'' is basal to this group while the other two are sister taxa. The closest relatives, therefore, are ''
Eucalyptopsis alauda
''Eucalyptopsis'' is a genus of describing two species of trees, constituting part of the plant family Myrtaceae and included in the eucalypts group. They have botanical records of growing naturally in New Guinea and the Moluccas, within the Mal ...
'' and ''
Eucalyptopsis papuana
''Eucalyptopsis papuana'' is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is found in Maluku and New Guinea. It is threatened by habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a ...
'' (both 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 ...
and the only two species in the genus), and ''
Allosyncarpia ternata
''Allosyncarpia ternata'', commonly known as ''an-binik'', is a species of rainforest trees constituting part of the botanical family Myrtaceae and included in the eucalypts group. The only species in its genus, it was described in 1981 by Stan ...
'' (another monotypic genus) from the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
.
Etymology
The genus name is in honour of Vic Stockwell, being the first to identify the plant as an unknown species. The
species epithet ''quadrifida'' is derived from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''
quattuor'' (four), and ''-fidus'' (divided), referring to the four segments of the
hypanthium
In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It ...
.
Conservation status
This species is listed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science as
vulnerable. , it has not been assessed by the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
.
In the 2002 paper that formally describes ''S. quadrifida'', the authors stated that despite its restricted range the only threat to the species is predation of the seeds by
Sulphur-crested cockatoo
The sulphur-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua galerita'') is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being ...
s (''Cacatua galerita''). However a new threat has recently appeared that may be of concern. The Australian botanist
Andrew Thornhill wrote in an informal (i.e. not
peer review
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
ed) article in
The Conversation
''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Rober ...
that he and fellow botanist
Stuart Worboys recently visited these trees, at which time Sworboys observed evidence of the fungus
myrtle rust
''Austropuccinia psidii'', commonly known as myrtle rust, guava rust, or ʻōhiʻa rust; is a rust (a type of plant pathogen) native to South America that affects plants in the family Myrtaceae. It is a member of the fungal complex called the ...
on the leaves. Thornhill wrote: suggesting that the status of this newly discovered species may change in the future.
Ecology
The seeds are eaten by
sulphur-crested cockatoo
The sulphur-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua galerita'') is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being ...
s.
References
Notes
External links
View a mapof historical sightings of this species at the
Australasian Virtual Herbarium
The ''Australasian Virtual Herbarium'' (AVH) is an online resource that allows access to plant specimen data held by various Australian and New Zealand herbaria. It is part of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), and was formed by the amalgamat ...
View observationsof this species on
iNaturalist
iNaturalist is a social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its website or from its mobile applic ...
View imagesof this species on
Flickriver
Photographsby Don Franklin, Jan 2013.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6134379
Myrtaceae
Monotypic Myrtaceae genera
Endemic flora of Queensland
Taxa named by Maisie Carr
Taxa named by Bernard Hyland