''Argophyllum lejourdanii'' is a plant in the

Argophyllaceae Argophyllaceae is a family of shrubs or small trees belonging to the order Asterales. The family includes c. 24 species in two genera, '' Argophyllum'' and '' Corokia''. Members of the family are native to eastern Australia, New Zealand, Lord ...

family

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

to a part of north eastern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. It was described and named in 1863.

Taxonomy

This species was first described (as ''A. lejourdani'') in 1863 by the by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-born Australian botanist

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vic ...

who published it in his work '' Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae''. In a 1900 review published in ''The Queensland Flora'',

Frederick Manson Bailey Frederick Manson Bailey (8 March 1827 – 25 June 1915) was a botanist active in Australia, who made valuable contributions to the characterisation of the flora of Queensland. He was known by his middle name, Manson. Early life Bailey was b ...

described a new subspecies ''L. l.'' var. ''cryptophleba'' and respelled 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, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany) A botanical name ...

with an extra "i", making it ''lejourdanii'', presumably as a correction of the Latin grammar. More than a hundred years later,

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. Care ...

and

Paul Forster Paul Irwin Forster (born 1961) is an Australian botanist. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Queensland in 2004 with his thesis ''The pursuit of plants : studies on the systematics, ecology and chemistry of the vascular flora of ...

conducted a wide-scale review of the genus in which they redefined ''A. lejourdanii'' and described seven new species—including promoting ''A. l.'' var. ''cryptophleba'' to species status as ''

Argophyllum cryptophlebum ''Argophyllum'' is a genus in the Argophyllaceae family comprising eighteen species of shrubs and small trees. They feature alternate, simple leaves, often silvery white underneath. They appear in Australia and New Caledonia, where several spec ...

''. They publishing their findings in the Journal ''

Austrobaileya ''Austrobaileya'' is the sole genus consisting of a single species that constitutes the entire flowering plant family Austrobaileyaceae. The species ''Austrobaileya scandens'' grows naturally only in the Wet Tropics rainforests of northeast ...

'' in 2018. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

for this species was collected in 1863 in the Kennedy District of north Queensland by

John Dallachy John Dallachy (c. 1808 – 4 June 1871) was a curator of Melbourne Botanic Gardens and a plant collector. Dallachy was born in Elginshire, Scotland. He worked as a gardener for the Earl of Aberdeen and Kew Gardens. In 1847, he went to Ceylon to m ...

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 ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

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

''lejourdanii'' is named for Alfred Lejourdan who was one of Mueller's correspondents.

Distribution and habitat

''A. lejourdanii'' is endemic to north eastern Queensland, from

Murray Falls The Murray Falls, a cascade waterfall on the Murray River, is located in the UNESCO World Heritagelisted Wet Tropics in Murray Upper, Cassowary Coast Region in the Far North region of Queensland, Australia. Location and features The Murray ...

near

Cardwell Cardwell may refer to: Places Australia *Cardwell, Queensland United States *Cardwell, Missouri *Cardwell, Montana * Cardwell Hall, Kansas State University Canada *Cardwell Parish, New Brunswick People *Alvin B. Cardwell (1902–1992), America ...

north to Mount Elliot south of

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 30 ...

, at elevations ranging from . It usually inhabits open forest but is also found on the edges of

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfo ...

, near rocky outcrops, and along stream margins.

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 categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. Th ...

. , it has not been assessed by the IUCN.

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 a 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 website or from its mobile applica ...

View images
of this species on Flickriver {{Taxonbar, from=Q17479766 Endemic flora of Queensland Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Taxa named by Frederick Manson Bailey Argophyllaceae Plants described in 1863