Banksia subser. Sphaerocarpae

taxobox
name = "Banksia" subser. "Sphaerocarpae"


image_caption = "Banksia grossa" (Coarse Banksia), a species of "B." subser. "Sphaerocarpae"
regnum = Plantae
unranked_divisio = Angiosperms
unranked_classis = Eudicots
ordo = Proteales
familia = Proteaceae
genus = "Banksia"
subgenus = "B." subg. "Banksia"
series = "B." ser. "Abietinae"
subseries = "B." subser. "Sphaerocarpae"
subseries_authority = K.R.Thiele|

"Banksia" subser. "Sphaerocarpae" is a valid botanic name for a subseries of "Banksia". It was published by Kevin Thiele in 1996, but discarded by Alex George in 1999.

Cladistics

The name came about after a cladistic analysis of "Banksia" by Thiele and Pauline Ladiges yielded a phylogeny somewhat at odds with the accepted taxonomic arrangement, prompting them to publish a revised arrangement. Their cladogram contained a clade that corresponded closely to George's "B." ser. "Abietinae". This clade resolved into four subclades, for which Thiele published four corresponding subseries. "B." subser. "Sphaerocarpae" was based upon the third subclade:cite journal | author = Thiele, Kevin and Pauline Y. Ladiges | year = 1996 | title = A Cladistic Analysis of Banksia (Proteaceae) | journal = Australian Systematic Botany | volume = 9 | issue = 5 | pages = 661–733 | doi = 10.1071/SB9960661] clade
1="B. grossa"
2=clade
1="B. sphaerocarpa" var. "dolichostyla"
2=clade
1="B. micrantha"
2=clade
1="B. sphaerocarpa" var. "sphaerocarpa"
2="B. sphaerocarpa" var. "caesia"

Taxonomy

"B." subser. "Sphaerocarpae" was formally defined as containing those taxa with "seeds with transversely aligned cells on the inner face on the inner face of the wing,... and old styles that curl loosely around the infructescence." In addition, all species except "B. grossa" have a papery interseminal plate. The epithet "Sphaerocarpae" is taken from the specific epithet of the type species, "B. sphaerocarpa" (Fox Banksia).

The wide phyletic separation of "B. sphaerocarpa" var. "dolichostyla" (Ironcap Banksia) from the other varieties of "B. sphaerocarpa" prompted Thiele to promote it to species rank as "B. dolichostyla".

The placement and circumscription of "B." subser. "Leptophyllae" in Thiele and Ladiges' arrangement may be summarised as follows::"Banksia"::"B." subg. "Isostylis" (3 species)::"B. elegans" (incertae sedis)"::"B." subg. "Banksia":::"B." ser. "Tetragonae" (4 species):::"B." ser. "Lindleyanae" (1 species):::"B." ser. "Banksia" (2 subseries, 12 species):::"B. baueri" (incertae sedis)":::"B. lullfitzii" (incertae sedis)":::"B. attenuata" (incertae sedis)":::"B. ashbyi" (incertae sedis)":::"B. coccinea" (incertae sedis)":::"B." ser. "Prostratae" (8 species):::"B." ser. "Cyrtostylis" (4 species):::"B." ser. "Ochraceae" (3 species, 2 subspecies):::"B." ser. "Grandes" (2 species):::"B." ser. "Salicinae" (2 subseries, 11 species, 4 subspecies):::"B." ser. "Spicigerae" (3 subseries, 7 species, 6 varieties):::"B." ser. "Quercinae" (2 species):::"B." ser. "Dryandroideae" (1 species):::"B." ser. "Abietinae"::::"B." subser. "Nutantes" (1 species, 2 varieties)::::"B." subser. "Sphaerocarpae":::::"B. grossa":::::"B. dolichostyla" (now "B. sphaerocarpa" var. "dolichostyla"):::::"B. micrantha":::::"B. sphaerocarpa"::::::"B. s." var. "sphaerocarpa"::::::"B. s." var. "caesia"::::"B." subser. "Leptophyllae" (4 species, 2 varieties)::::"B." subser. "Longistyles" (6 species, 2 varieties)Thiele and Ladiges' arrangement remained current only until 1999, when George's treatment of the genus for the "Flora of Australia" series of monographs was published. This was essentially a revision of George's 1981 arrangement,The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)] which took into account some of Thiele and Ladiges' data, but rejected their overall arrangement. "B." subser. "Sphaerocarpae" was discarded, as were the other three subseries of "B." ser. "Abietinae", and "B. dolichostyla" was once more demoted to a variety of "B. sphaerocarpa".cite encyclopedia | last = George | first = Alex S. | authorlink = Alex George | year = 1999 | title = Banksia | editor = Wilson, Annette (ed.) | encyclopedia = Flora of Australia | volume = Volume 17B: Proteaceae 3: Hakea to Dryandra | pages = 175–251 | location = Collingwood, Victoria | publisher = CSIRO Publishing / Australian Biological Resources Study | id = ISBN 0-643-06454-0]

Recent developments

Since 1998, Austin Mast has been publishing results of ongoing cladistic analyses of DNA sequence data for the subtribe Banksiinae, which suggest a phylogeny that is rather different to previous taxonomic arrangements. His results suggest that "B." subser. "Sphaerocarpae" is polyphyletic: "B. micrantha", "B. sphaerocarpa" var. "sphaerocarpa" and "B. sphaerocarpa" var. "caesia" together form a clade, but "B. grossa" appears more closely related to the members of Thiele's "B." subser. "Leptophyllae", and "B. dolichostyla" falls into a clade with "B. violacea" (Violet Banksia), "B. laricina" (Rose-fruited Banksia) and "B. incana" (Hoary Banksia).cite journal | author = Mast, Austin R. | year = 1998 | title = Molecular systematics of subtribe Banksiinae ("Banksia" and "Dryandra"; Proteaceae) based on cpDNA and nrDNA sequence data: implications for taxonomy and biogeography | journal = Australian Systematic Botany | volume = 11 | pages = 321–342 | doi = 10.1071/SB97026] cite journal | author = Mast, Austin R. and Thomas J. Givnish | year = 2002 | title = Historical biogeography and the origin of stomatal distributions in "Banksia" and "Dryandra" (Proteaceae) based on Their cpDNA phylogeny | journal = American Journal of Botany | volume = 89 | issue = 8 | pages = 1311–1323 | id = ISSN|0002-9122 | url = http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/89/8/1311 | accessdate=2006-07-02 | doi = 10.3732/ajb.89.8.1311] cite journal | author = Mast, Austin R., Eric H. Jones and Shawn P. Havery | year = 2005 | volume = 18 | issue = 1 | title = An assessment of old and new DNA sequence evidence for the paraphyly of "Banksia" with respect to "Dryandra" (Proteaceae) | journal = Australian Systematic Botany | pages = 75–88 | publisher = CSIRO Publishing / Australian Systematic Botany Society | doi = 10.1071/SB04015]

Early in 2007 Mast and Thiele initiated a rearrangement of "Banksia" by transferring "Dryandra" into it, and publishing "B." subg. "Spathulatae" for the species having spoon-shaped cotyledons. All members of subseries "Sphaerocarpae" fall within Mast and Thiele's "B." subg. "Spathulatae", but nothing further has been published. Mast and Thiele have foreshadowed publishing a full arrangement once DNA sampling of "Dryandra" is complete.cite journal | first = Austin | last = Mast | authorlink = Austin Mast | coauthors = Kevin Thiele | year = 2007 | title = The transfer of Dryandra R.Br. to Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae) | journal = Australian Systematic Botany | volume = 20 | pages = 63–71 | doi = 10.1071/SB06016]

References