A new mallee species Eucalyptus phoenix (Myrtaceae) from Brumby Point, East Gippsland, Victoria William M. Molyneux1 and Susan G. Forrester2 LaTrobe University, Department of Botany, School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia; e-mail: [email protected] 2 200 Beachs Lane, Dixons Creek, Victoria 3775, Australia Introduction Abstract The authors first observed this new entity at Brumby Point on the A new species of Eucalyptus L'Her. with Nunniong Plateau in May 2002, prior to the severe summer fires of early remote affinities to Eucalyptus mackintii 2003. One small stand of c. 30 dwarf mallees was noted at the eastern Kottek is described. Eucalyptus phoenix Molyneux & Forrester sp. nov. is a rare end of the Brumby Point Track. Two additional stands were noted on dwarf mallee currently known from rocky outcrops north of the track: c. 20 dwarf mallees c 100 m west of three small stands at Brumby Point on the first stand and c. 40 dwarf mallees c 250 m west of the first stand. the Nunniong Plateau in the Alpine The only collection taken at this time was a small amount of vegetative National Park, East Gippsland, Victoria. material. While fruiting material was noted, none was collected at the Its distribution, ecology, affinities and conservation status are discussed. time. It was not until late spring of 2003 that we returned to the fire- devastated landscape of Brumby Point where, to our amazement, we Key words: mallee, stringybark, series Pachyphloiae, morphology, taxonomy recovered a small number of unopened seed capsules from one of the severely burnt mallees at the eastern end of Brumby Point Track. It was Muelleria 31:65-68 (2013) from these that seedlings were grown at Facey's Nursery, Cranbourne, Victoria in an attempt to clarify the identity of this enigmatic dwarf mallee. The degree of uniformity in seedling characters proved to be consistent with a stable entity rather than a hybrid taxon. Furthermore, the hispid seedling leaves and stems, and the occasional slightly oblique leaf bases, tentatively locate the new taxon in the stringybark series Pachyphloiae Blakely of Eucalyptus L'Her. Growth trials bringing these seedlings to flowering and fruiting furnished further evidence of the stability of the new taxon throughout all life stages. Subsequent collection of flowering type material was taken from the field in November 2010, by which time post-fire regeneration had advanced sufficiently to confirm the distinctive characters demonstrated by seedling and growth trials at a field population level. Taking into consideration the suite of characters that separate this entity from other stringybarks we consider it worthy of recognition at species rank. Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Muelleria 65 Molyneux and Forrester Taxonomy dehiscing through oblique confluent slits. Ovules in two longitudinal rows. Fruits often clustered on leafless Eucalyptus phoenix Molyneux & Forrester, branches, hemispherical, thick-walled, subsessile sp. nov. or shortly pedicellate, 7-8 mm long, 6-8 mm wide; A new species with affinities to Eucalyptus mackintii as pedicels 1-2 mm long; disc narrow and slightly folded, suggested by hispid seedling leaves and stems, conical level with rim or occasionally shallowly ascending in old bud operculae and hemispherical fruit but differing fruit; valves 3 or 4, triangular, level with disc. Fertile seeds by its mallee habit, bark smooth except at base and dark brown, irregularly sub-pyramidal, dorsal surface peduncles occasionally paired. shiny, minutely and unevenly verruculose; hilum ventral. Type: VICTORIA. Eastern end of the Brumby Point (Fig. 1A-F) Track, 37°03'12"S, 148°04'42"E, 15.xi.2010, W. Molyneux Flowering period: Late spring to early summer. & 5. Forrester s.n. (Holotype MEL 2360702; Isotypes: AD, Additional specimens examined: VICTORIA. Cultivated at CANB, K, NSW, NY, S). Dixons Ck (from seed collected late spring 2003 from upper northerly slopes north of Brumby Point Track, c. 100 m west of Brumby Point, 37°03/12" S, 148°04'37" E), 24.xii.2006, W. Dwarf mallees, 2-5m tall. Lignotuber present. Bark Molyneux &S. Forrester s.n, (MEL 2331166,2331167); Cultivated smooth almost to the ground, white to light grey; at Dixons Ck (from seed collected late spring 2003 from upper old bark at base sometimes forming a short stocking northerly slopes north of Brumby Point Track, c. 250 m west of of flaky bark decorticating as thin strips and plates. Brumby Point, c 6.8 km. from Diggers Hole SpurTrack, 37°03'12" Seedling leaves, ovate, cordate, opposite for 3 or 4 pairs, S, 148°04'32" E), 20.vi.2008, W. Molyneux &S. Forrester s.n. (MEL petiolate, discolorous, dark green above, pale green 2331168,2331169). below, hispid for 5 or 6 pairs; margins hispid. Seedling Distribution and habitat: Eucalyptus phoenix is stems round in cross section, hispid. Juvenile leaves currently known only from a single small population ovate, rarely basally oblique, acuminate or apiculate, at Brumby Point on the Nunniong Plateau in the alternate, petiolate, non-hispid, slightly discolorous, Alpine National Park in East Gippsland, Victoria. The dull, light green or blue green, 5-8 cm long, 1.5-4 population comprises three small stands near the cm wide; petioles 4-11 mm long. Intermediate leaves eastern end of Brumby Point Track and upper northerly ovate or sub-orbicular, petiolate, slightly discolorous, slopes immediately to the west. The habitat is a spur dull blue-green, broader than juvenile leaves; lateral at an elevation of c. 1360 m asl supporting sub-alpine and intramarginal veins prominent on both surfaces. woodland dominated by a unique suite of mallee and Adult leaves, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate or ovate dwarf eucalypts. Geology is strongly tilted and banded lanceolate, symmetric or sometimes slightly basally metamorphosed siltstone of Palaeozoic age. oblique, apex apiculate or acuminate, uncinate, sparsely Associated species: Eucalyptus aff. dives Schauer, reticulate, concolorous, lustrous, green, (4—)8—10(— £ elaeophloia Chappill, Crisp & Prober, £ forresterae 13) cm long, (1.8—)2—3(—3.8) cm wide; lateral veins Molyneux & Rule, £ kybeanensis Maiden & Cambage, E. prominent, inclined at 30-40 degrees from the mid¬ aff. kybeanensis, E. mannifera Mudie subsp. mannifera vein, intramarginal vein prominent, remote, 3-5 mm and £pauciflora Sieber ex Spreng. subsp.pauciflora have from the margin, oil glands abundant, regular, island; been observed growing near or adjacent to Eucalyptus petioles 1-1.7 cm long. Inflorescences axillary, solitary or phoenix. Eucalyptus dalrympleana Maiden subsp. sometimes twinned, 5-11-flowered; peduncles slender, dalrympleana, £ glaucescens Maiden & Blakely and £ terete or slightly angular, (2—)8—14 mm long. Floral buds perriniana F.Muell. ex Rodway also occur in the vicinity of clavate, pedicellate, unscarred, 3-4-locular, 6-8 mm Brumby Point. The site has outstanding biogeographic long, 3-4 mm wide; pedicels 3-4 mm long; operculum significance as a 'hot spot' for a suite of endemic and conical, flush with the hypanthium at the abscission rare species and disjunct plant populations (Chappill et zone, tinged red prior to anthesis, 3-5 mm long, 3-4 al. 1990) including a population of Acacia lucasii Blakely mm wide; stamens irregularly flexed, all fertile; filaments (known in Victoria only from here and a site shortly white; anthers sub-basifixed, versatile, reniform, to the east), Actinotus forsythii Maiden & Betche and 66 Vol 31,2013 A new mallee species from East Gippsland, Victoria Figure 1. A. Seedlings, illustrating uniformity and hispid juvenile growth; B. young plant illustrating hispid growth; C. smooth- barked stem of an 8-year-old Eucalyptus phoenix cultivated at the authors' property; D. buds and flowers; E. mature fruit; F. adult leaf venation pattern and uncinate leaf tip Muelleria 67 Molyneux and Forrester Monotoca rotundifolia J.H. Willis, all of which are disjunct Eucalyptus phoenix also demonstrates more distant outliers from southern New South Wales. The site also affinity with £ macrorhyncha as illustrated by the supports the type populations of three other highly shared hispid seedlings and oblique adult leaf bases but restricted Victorian endemics: Eucalyptus forresterae differs markedly by its smooth rather than fibrous bark (Rule & Molyneux 2011), £ elaeophloia (Chappill et al. and smaller fruits with a level or shallowly ascending 1990) and Leptospermum jingera Lyne & Crisp (Lyne disc (in contrast to the strongly ascending disc of E. & Crisp 1996). Other rare species with populations at macrorhyncha). Brumby Point include Grevillea pachylostyla (McGill.) Eucalyptus phoenix is tentatively placed within P.M.OIde & N.R.Marriott, Monotoca oreophila Albr. and Eucalyptus series Pachyphloiae, noting that E. Viola improcera LG.Adams. phoenix is not unique amongst the stringybarks in Conservation status: The new species is restricted having smooth or flaky bark and mallee habit. Other to a single known population comprising fewer than species of 'stringybark' sharing these traits include 100 mature individuals in three small stands with an £ olsenii L.A.SJohnson & Blaxell, E. deuaensis Boland estimated extent of occurrence of 5000 m2 based on a & P.M.Gilmour, E. serraensis Ladiges & Whiffin and £ linear extent of 250 m and maximum average width of 20 verrucata Ladiges & Whiffin. m and an estimated area of occupancy less than 0.5 ha. The species is arguably subject to continuing decline in Acknowledgements the quality of its habitat as a consequence of the inferred Kevin Rule for his invaluable editorial assistance, in and projected impact of climatic drying and elevated particular his knowledge of the Eucalyptus series temperature thresholds on the recruitment potential Pachyphloiae which led us to more fully appreciate of almost all Victorian montane to subalpine eucalypts the uniqueness of £ phoenix. David Cameron for his (Nitschke & Hickey 2007) and, by inference, £ phoenix. advice on the structure of this paper and painstaking The species is therefore assessed as critically endangered and meticulous editorial assistance. The staff at The under the IUCN Red List categories and criteria (IUCN National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL) for providing 2001) with a threat code of CR B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii). The access to specimens. RaeleneTrimble of Facey's Nursery species also qualifies unambiguously as endangered for conducting the initial seedling trials. A final thanks under criterion D since the estimated population size to Neville Walsh (MEL) forthe numerous Latin diagnoses is well below the threshold of 250 mature individuals he has provided for us over many years prior to this (EN D). requirement becoming optional. Etymology: The epithet phoenix commemorates the serendipitous discovery of a small amount of seed of this References rare new plant following the apparently all-consuming Chappill, J.A., Crisp, M.D. and Prober, S.M. (1990). Eucalyptus fire of 2003. Like the fabled bird of Greek mythology elaeophloia: a new species from the Nunniong Plateau, Victoria. Australian Systematic Botany 3,275-279. Eucalyptus phoenix arose from the flames of a fire. IUCN (2001). IUCN Red List categories and criteria, version 3.1. Recommended English name: Brumby Mallee-gum. IUCN Species Survival Commission. International Union for the Conservation of Nature: Gland, Switzerland. Discussion Kottek, M.H., Ladiges, P.Y. and Whiffin, T. (1990). A new species of stringybark, Eucalyptus mackintii, from eastern Victoria and Eucalyptus phoenix appears to have its nearest (although its phenetic and cladistic relationships. Australian Systematic Botany 3,671-687. still somewhat remote) affinity with £ mackintii (Kottek Lyne, A.M. and Crisp, M.D. (1996). Leptospermum jingera etal. 1990) through the shared hispid seedling leaves (Myrtaceae-Leptospermoideae): a new species from north¬ and stems, the buds with a conical operculum and eastern Victoria. Australian Systematic Botany 9,301 -306. similar fruit shape. The new species differs in its mallee Nitschke, C.R. and Hickey, G.M. (2007). Assessing the vulnerability of Victoria's Central Highlands forests to climate habit, smooth bark, occasionally paired peduncles, change. Technical report for the Victorian Department of pedicellate buds (sessile in £ mackintii) and fruit with Sustainability and Environment (DSE). Peer reviewed and a narrow, more or less level disc (broader, more or less unpublished. Rule, K. and Molyneux, W.M. (2011). Two new mallee Eucalypts ascending in E. mackintii). (Myrtaceae) from Gippsland, Victoria. Muelleria 29,16-26. 68 Vol 31,2013