''Argophyllum ferrugineum'' 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 northeastern

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 ...

, Australia. It was described and named in 2018 and has the conservation status of

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 ...

Taxonomy

This species was first described, along with a number of other new species in this

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 ...

, in 2018 by 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 who published it in the 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 1995 near

Tully Falls The Tully Falls, a horsetail chute waterfall on the Tully River, is located in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics in the Far North region of Queensland, Australia. It formed the eastern boundary of the Dyirbal. Location and feature ...

by Forster.

Etymology

The genus name ''Argophyllum'' is derived from Ancient 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) ...

''ferrugineum'' is from the Latin ferrūgineus meaning rust-coloured, referring to the colour of the veins on the undersurface of the leaves.

Distribution and habitat

''A. ferrugineum'' 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 ...

, mostly in the area of Tully Falls and Koolmoon Creek and with a disjunct population around Kirrama, west of Cardwell. It inhabits open forest and the edges of rainforest, usually along stream margins, on shallow

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture (geology), texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained matri ...

soils.

Conservation

This species is listed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science 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

IUCN 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 status ...

References

External links

View a map
of recorded sightings of ''Argophyllum ferrugineum'' 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 ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65931126 Endemic flora of Australia Flora of Queensland Taxa named by Paul Irwin Forster Taxa named by Anthony Bean ferrugineum