''Argophyllum curtum'' is a plant in the

Argophyllaceae Argophyllaceae is a family (biology), family of shrubs or small trees belonging to the order (biology), order Asterales. The family includes c. 24 species in two genus, genera, ''Argophyllum'' and ''Corokia''. Members of the family are native to ...

family

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to a small part of north eastern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. It was described and named in 2018.

Description

''Argophyllum curtum'' is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

shrub growing up to tall. The new growth is rusty-brown in colour due to a dense covering of brown hairs. The leaves are dark green and hairless above and silvery below, and they measure up to long by wide. They are arranged alternately on petioles measuring from long. They each have 6 to 9 lateral veins on either side of the midrib. The leaf margins (edges) are finely toothed with between 23 and 38 teeth on either edge, the largest of which are just long. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s are produced from the

leaf axils A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

, may be up to long and are densely covered in hairs. Flowers are white with 5 petals, measuring about across. The fruit is a capsule up to long and diameter.

Phenology

Flowering has been observed from May to October, and fruit appear from June to November.

Taxonomy

In 2018 the Australian botanists

Anthony Bean Anthony Russell Bean (born 1957) is an Australian botanist who works at the Queensland Herbarium and Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha. Since 1982, he has led the Eucalyptus Study Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants. Caree ...

and Paul Forster conducted a review of the Australian members of the

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 ...

''Argophyllum'', with the result that 7 new species – including ''A. curtum'' – were described. Their paper, titled "A taxonomic revision of ''Argophyllum'' J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. (Argophyllaceae) in Australia", was published in the Queensland Herbarium's journal ''

Austrobaileya ''Austrobaileya'' is the sole genus in the plant family Austrobaileyaceae – the family is thus 'monotypic' as it includes a single child taxon. It is one of the basal angiosperm families, the most ancient group of flowering plants. The genu ...

''. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

was collected in 2005 near

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

by Forster.

Etymology

The genus name ''Argophyllum'' is derived from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

'' Árgos'' meaning white or shining, and '' phúllon'' meaning leaf. It refers to the white colouration of the underside of the leaves. The

species epithet Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany) ...

''curtum'' is from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

'' curtus'', meaning short, and refers to the very small teeth on the margins of the leaves.

Distribution and habitat

''A. curtum'' is restricted to a small area of the

Wet Tropics of Queensland The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...

between Kuranda and

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

near Cairns. There are 5, possibly 6, populations in that area (one that was previously reported has not been relocated since). It is found in open forest and on the margins of streams in complex notophyll

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

, usually on

granitic A granitoid is a broad term referring to a diverse group of coarse-grained igneous rocks that are widely distributed across the globe, covering a significant portion of the Earth's exposed surface and constituting a large part of the continental ...

alluvial soils. The altitudinal range is between .

Conservation

The taxon authors conceded that there are no immediate threats to this species, but also noted that the available habitat is small and potentially subject to detrimental forces. They suggested that a vulnerable status be applied to the species, however the Queensland Department of Environment and Science has assessed it as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

. , it has not been assessed by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN).

Gallery

File:Argophyllum-curtum-SF23215-03.jpg, Silvery underside of leaves File:Argophyllum-curtum-SF23215-06.jpg, Habit File:Argophyllum-curtum-SF23215-05.jpg, Flower buds and rusty coloured new growth File:Argophyllum-curtum-SF23215-02.jpg,

References

External links

View a map
of 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 amalgama ...

View observations
of this species on

iNaturalist iNaturalist is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit 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 web ...

View images
of this species on Flickriver {{Taxonbar, from=Q65931124 Taxa named by Paul Irwin Forster Taxa named by Anthony Bean curtum Endemic flora of Queensland Plants described in 2018