Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

's taxonomic arrangement of ''

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and woody fruiting "cones" and head ...

'' was published in his book of 1810, ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a book by the botanist Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and ...

'', and expanded in the supplement to that publication, '' Supplementum Primum Prodromi Florae Novae Hollandiae'', in 1830. It was the first survey of ''Banksia'' species to be published, and included descriptions of a number of previously undescribed species.

Background

''Banksia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of around 175

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in the

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

family

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family (biology), family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genus, genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentr ...

. An iconic

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n wildflower and popular

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

, they are recognised by their flower spikes or domes, and their fruiting "cones". They grow in forms varying from prostrate woody

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s to trees up to 35 metres tall, and occur in all but the most

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

areas of Australia. As heavy producers of

nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

, they are important sources of food for nectariferous animals such as

honeyeater The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Gui ...

s and

honey possum The honey possum or noolbenger (''Tarsipes rostratus''), is a tiny species of marsupial that feeds on the nectar and pollen of a diverse range of flowering plants. Found only in southwest Australia, it is an important pollinator for such plants ...

, and they are of economic importance to the nursery and

cut flower Cut flowers are flowers and flower buds (often with some stem and leaf) that have been cut from the plant bearing it. It is removed from the plant for decorative use. Cut greens are leaves with or without stems added to the cut flowers for con ...

industries. However they are seriously threatened by a number of processes including land clearing, frequent burning, and disease, and a number of species are rare and

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Brown's 1810 arrangement

Specimens of ''Banksia'' were first collected by Sir

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

and Dr

Daniel Solander Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander (19 February 1733 – 13 May 1782) was a Sweden, Swedish naturalist and an Apostles of Linnaeus, apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Solander was the first university-educated scientist to set foot o ...

, naturalists on HM Bark ''Endeavour'' during Lieutenant (later Captain)

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

's voyage to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

in 1770. By the time of Brown's arrangement of 1810, less than 20 ''Banksia'' species had been published. However, Brown had himself collected specimens of 26 unpublished species in 1801 and 1802. Thirteen of these were thought by Brown to belong to a new genus, which he named ''Dryandra'' (now ''B.'' ser. ''Dryandra''). The remaining species were assigned to ''Banksia''; thus Brown was able to publish an arrangement of 31 species. Brown divided ''Banksia'' into two unranked groups. He placed '' B. ilicifolia'' alone in '' Isostylis'' because of its unusual dome-shaped inflorescences. All other species were placed in ''

Banksia verae ''Banksia'' subg. ''Banksia'' is a valid botanic name for a subgenus of ''Banksia''. As an autonym (botany), autonym, it necessarily contains the type species of ''Banksia'', ''Banksia serrata, B. serrata'' (Saw Banksia). Within this const ...

'', the "true banksias", because they have the elongate flower spike then considered characteristic of ''Banksia''. The arrangement was as follows: :''

'' ::''

'' :::'' B. pulchella'' :::'' B. sphærocarpa'' :::'' B. nutans'' :::'' B. ericifolia'' :::'' B. spinulosa'' :::''B. collina'' (now ''B. spinulosa'' var. ''collina'') :::'' B. occidentalis'' :::'' B. littoralis'' :::'' B. marginata'' :::''B. depressa'' (now '' B. marginata'') :::''B. patula'' (now '' B. marginata'') :::''B. australis'' (now '' B. marginata'') :::''B. insularis'' (now '' B. marginata'') :::'' B. integrifolia'' :::''B. compar'' (now ''B. integrifolia'' subsp. ''compar'') :::'' B. verticillata'' :::'' B. coccinea'' :::'' B. paludosa'' :::'' B. oblongifolia'' :::''B. latifolia'' (now '' B. robur'') :::''B. marcescens'' (now '' B. praemorsa'') :::'' B. attenuata'' :::''B. elatior'' (now '' B. aemula'') :::'' B. serrata'' :::'' B. æmula'' :::'' B. dentata'' :::'' B. quercifolia'' :::'' B. speciosa'' :::'' B. grandis'' :::'' B. repens'' ::'' Isostylis'' :::'' B. ilicifolia''

Brown's 1830 arrangement

Brown released a second edition of his ''Prodromus'' in 1821, but no new species of ''Banksia'' had been collected since that time, so the arrangement was the same as in the first edition. Between 1823 and 1829, a number of new species were collected, most of which were not published. In 1830, Brown issued his ''Supplementum'', describing eleven additional ''Banksia'' species, nine of which were previously unpublished. A revised arrangement was not proffered; instead, Brown gave a position into which each new taxon was to be inserted in the 1810 arrangement. Brown's 1830 arrangement may be summarised as follows: :''

'' ::''

'' :::'' B. pulchella'' :::'' B. sphærocarpa'' :::'' B. nutans'' :::'' B. ericifolia'' :::'' B. spinulosa'' :::''B. Cunninghamii'' (now ''B. spinulosa'' var. ''cunninghamii'') :::''B. collina'' (now ''B. spinulosa'' var. ''collina'') :::'' B. occidentalis'' :::'' B. littoralis'' :::'' B. marginata'' :::''B. depressa'' (now '' B. marginata'') :::''B. patula'' (now '' B. marginata'') :::''B. australis'' (now '' B. marginata'') :::''B. insularis'' (now '' B. marginata'') :::'' B. integrifolia'' :::''B. compar'' (now ''B. integrifolia'' subsp. ''compar'') :::'' B. verticillata'' :::'' B. coccinea'' :::'' B. paludosa'' :::'' B. oblongifolia'' :::''B. latifolia'' (now '' B. robur'') :::''B. marcescens'' (now '' B. praemorsa'') :::'' B. media'' :::'' B. attenuata'' :::'' B. Caleyi'' :::'' B. Baueri'' :::'' B. Menziesii'' :::''B. elatior'' (now '' B. aemula'') :::'' B. serrata'' :::'' B. æmula'' :::'' B. dentata'' :::'' B. quercifolia'' :::'' B. speciosa'' :::'' B. Solandri'' :::'' B. grandis'' :::'' B. Baxteri'' :::'' B. Goodii'' :::''B. prostrata'' (now '' B. gardneri'') :::'' B. repens'' :::'' B. Dryandroides'' :::'' B. Brownii'' :: ''B.'' subg. ''Isostylis'' :::'' B. ilicifolia''

Legacy

Brown's ''Banksia verae'' was renamed ''

Eubanksia ''Banksia'' sect. ''Eubanksia'' is an obsolete section of ''Banksia''. There have been two circumscriptions, one of which is synonymous with the recently abandoned ''B.'' subg. ''Banksia'' ''sensu'' Alex George, the other having no modern equ ...

'' by

Stephan Endlicher Stephan Friedrich Ladislaus Endlicher, also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804 – 28 March 1849), was an Austrian Empire, Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botanical Garden of Vienna. Biog ...

in 1847. The arrangement was eventually superseded by

Carl Meissner Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner (1 November 1800 – 2 May 1874) was a Swiss botanist. Biography Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 ...

's 1856 revision. Meissner retained ''Eubanksia'' and ''Isostylis'', giving them sectional rank. They have since been promoted to subgenus rank by Alex George, although ''Eubanksia'' is now known as ''B.'' subg. ''Banksia''. Recent

cladistic Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

analyses have revealed a

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

that Brown's arrangement fails to reflect. ''Dryandra'' is shown to have arisen from within the ranks of ''Banksia'', so should not have been treated as a separate genus; and ''B. ilicifolia'' is a fairly derived species, contrary to the basal position suggested by Brown. The phyletic order of species is accurate in some cases but grossly inaccurate in others; for example ''B. brownii'' and ''B. nutans'' are closely related but are placed very far apart by Brown.

References

{{reflist

Background

Brown's 1810 arrangement

Brown's 1830 arrangement

Legacy

References

See also