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 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 1856, as part of his chapter on the

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 ...

in A. P. de Candolle's '' Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis''. It was the first attempt to provide an infrageneric classification for the genus, aside from

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 publication of two subgenera in 1810. Meissner's arrangement stood until 1870, when it was superseded by the arrangement of

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

. Meissner's arrangement was an excellent survey of the known species at that time, but his infrageneric taxa were all highly heterogeneous.

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 80

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

. 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, and they are of economic importance to the nursery and cut flower 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 ...

. 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 the 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 1770 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 ...

. By the time of Meissner's arrangement, 58 species were recognised. The most recent taxonomic arrangement, which had stood since 1830, was Brown's 1830 arrangement. Brown had divided ''Banksia'' into two unranked taxa: ''Banksia verae'' ("true banksia"), later renamed ''Eubanksia'', containing all species with the flower spike then considered characteristic of the genus; and '' Isostylis'', containing only '' B. ilicifolia'', which is unusual in having a dome-shaped inflorescence.

Meissner's arrangement

Meissner retained Brown's subgenera, but demoted them to sectional rank. He then further divided ''Eubanksia'' into four series, ''B.'' ser. ''Abietinae'', ''B.'' ser. ''Salicinae'', ''B.'' ser. ''Quercinae'' and ''B.'' ser. ''Dryandroideae''. ''B.'' ser. ''Abietinae'' contained only (but not all) species with hooked styles. The other three series were heterogeneous. Meissner's taxonomic arrangement of ''Banksia'' may be summarised as follows: :''

'' :: ''B.'' sect. ''Eubanksia'' ::: ''B.'' ser. ''Abietinæ'' ::::'' B. pulchella'' ::::'' B. Meisneri'' ::::'' B. sphærocarpa'' :::::''B. sphaerocarpa'' var. ''glabrescens'' (now '' B. incana'') ::::''B. pinifolia'' (now '' B. leptophylla'') ::::'' B. nutans'' ::::'' B. ericifolia'' ::::'' B. spinulosa'' ::::'' B. tricuspis'' ::: ''B.'' ser ''Salicinæ'' ::::''B. cunninghamii'' (now ''B. spinulosa'' var. ''cunninghamii'') ::::''B. collina'' (now ''B. spinulosa'' var. ''collina'') ::::'' B. occidentalis'' ::::'' B. littoralis'' ::::''B. cylindrostachya'' (now '' B. attenuata'') ::::'' B. lindleyana'' ::::'' B. marginata'' :::::''B. marginata'' var. ''Cavanillesii'' (now '' B. marginata'') :::::''B. marginata'' var. ''microstachya'' (now '' B. marginata'') :::::''B. marginata'' var. ''humilis'' (now '' B. marginata'') ::::''B. depressa'' (now '' B. marginata'') :::::''B. depressa'' var. ''subintegra'' (now '' B. marginata'') ::::''B. patula'' (now '' B. marginata'') ::::''B. australis'' (now '' B. marginata'') ::::''B. Gunnii'' (now '' B. marginata'') ::::''B. insularis'' (now '' B. marginata'') ::::'' B. integrifolia'' :::::''B. integrifolia'' var. ''minor'' (now ''B. integrifolia'' subsp. ''integrifolia'') :::::''B. integrifolia'' var. ''major'' (now ''B. integrifolia'' subsp. ''integrifolia'') :::::''B. integrifolia'' var. ''dentata'' (now '' B. robur'') ::::''B. compar'' (now ''B. integrifolia'' subsp. ''compar'') ::::'' B. paludosa'' ::::'' B. verticillata'' ::::'' B. media'' ::::'' B. attenuata'' ::::''B. elatior'' (now '' B. aemula'') ::::'' B. lævigata'' ::::'' B. Hookeriana'' ::::'' B. prionotes'' ::::'' B. Menziesii'' ::: ''B.'' ser. ''Quercinæ'' ::::'' B. coccinea'' ::::'' B. sceptrum'' ::::'' B. Baueri'' ::::'' B. ornata'' ::::''B. latifolia'' (now '' B. robur'') ::::''B. marcescens'' (now '' B. praemorsa'') ::::'' B. oblongifolia'' ::::'' B. serrata'' ::::'' B. æmula'' ::::'' B. Caleyi'' :::::''B. caleyi'' var. ''sinuosa'' (now '' B. caleyi'') ::::'' B. Lemanniana'' ::::'' B. quercifolia'' ::::'' B. dentata'' ::::''B. prostrata'' (now '' B. gardneri'') ::::'' B. Goodii'' ::::''B. barbigera'' ::::'' B. repens'' ::::'' B. Solandri'' :::::''B. solandri'' var. ''major'' (now '' B. solandri'') ::: ''B.'' ser. ''Dryandroideæ'' ::::'' B. grandis'' ::::'' B. Baxteri'' ::::'' B. speciosa'' ::::'' B. Victoriæ'' ::::'' B. elegans'' ::::'' B. Candolleana'' ::::'' B. dryandroides'' ::::'' B. Brownii'' :: ''B.'' sect. ''Isostylis'' ::::'' B. ilicifolia''

Legacy

Meissner's arrangement remained current until 1870, when it was superseded by George Bentham's arrangement as published in Volume V of ''

Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume Flora of Australia published b ...

''. Section ''Isostylis'' is now maintained at subgenus level as ''Banksia'' subg. ''Isostylis''. Meissner's four series were discarded by Bentham, but their names were recycled by Alex George in his 1891 arrangement. All four names are still in use, but their definitions and therefore contents have changed substantially.

References

{{reflist Taxonomy of Banksia . Taxa named by Carl Meissner 1856 in science