''Romnalda'' is a

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 ...

monocotyledonous Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, ( Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are flowering plants whose seeds contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. A monocot taxon has been in use for several decades, but with various ranks an ...

plants in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Asparagaceae Asparagaceae (), known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, '' Asparagus officinalis''. This family includes both ...

, subfamily

Lomandroideae Lomandroideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, order Asparagales, according to the APG III system of 2009. The subfamily name is derived from the generic name of the type genus, '' Lomandra''. The group has ...

. (They have also been placed in the

Xanthorrhoeaceae ''Xanthorrhoea'' () is a genus of about 30 species of succulent flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae. They are endemic to Australia. Common names for the plants include grasstree, grass gum-tree (for resin-yielding species), kangaroo ta ...

.) four formally named species are known and accepted by botanical science. The name ''Romnalda'' is an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

of ''

Lomandra ''Lomandra'', commonly known as mat rushes, is a genus of perennial, Herbaceous plant, herbaceous Monocotyledon, monocots in the family (biology), family Asparagaceae, subfamily Lomandroideae. The genus was first described in 1805 by Jacques Lab ...

'', a related though more common genus of hard–leaved lily-like plants. The genus ''Romnalda'' differs from Lomandra in growing exclusively in

rainforests 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 ...

and having sparsely branched

inflorescences In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's 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 main axis ( pe ...

with no spines. Plants have strap-like leaves and grow up to one metre (3 feet) tall often with a trunk and stilt roots reminiscent of a miniature ''

Pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with about 578 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Common names include pandan, screw palm and screw pine. The genus is classified ...

''. Species of ''Romnalda'' grow naturally in

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 ...

and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

Species

* '' R. grallata'' – restricted to

cloud forests A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, ...

on a few misty peaks in the

Daintree Rainforest The Daintree Rainforest, also known as the Daintree, is a region on the northeastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about , by road, north of the city of Cairns. Whilst the terms "Daintree Rainforest" and "the Daintree" are not officially def ...

, Wet Tropics region, north-eastern Queensland. * '' R. ophiopogonoides'', synonym: ''Romnalda'' sp. Cooper Creek (P.I.Forster+ PIF4402) Qld Herbarium – only found in a few isolated locations around

Cooper Creek The Cooper Creek (formerly Cooper's Creek) is a river in the Australian states of Queensland and South Australia. It was the site of the death of the explorers Burke and Wills in 1861. It is sometimes known as the Barcoo River from one of its ...

, Wet Tropics region, north-eastern Queensland; and has obtained the

government's official conservation status listing of "vulnerable" species. * '' R. papuana'' – only found in a handful of locations in

including the island of

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

. * '' R. strobilacea'' – restricted to

basaltic Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron ( mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% ...

soils north of Brisbane in

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a Bioregion, bio-geographical, Megalopolis, metropolitan and Statistics, statistical Regions of Queensland, region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of ...

, Australia; and has obtained the Australian national and

governments' official conservation status listings of "vulnerable" species.

References

* Henderson, R. J. F. (1986).In: George, A. S. (ed.) ''Flora of Australia'', Vol. 46. Canberra: Australian Government Publishment Service, pp. 91–92 Asparagaceae genera Lomandroideae {{Asparagaceae-stub