New or Noteworthy Euphorbiaceae-Ricinocarpoideae from Western Australia

Abstract

In December I963 a request was received at Kew from Mr. R. D. Royce, then Curator of the Herbarium at Perth, Western Australia, for help with the determination of a number of puzzling specimens of Beyeria Miq., Bertya Planch. and Ricinocarpos Desf., three genera of the exclusively Australian group 'Stenolobeae' of the Euphorbiaceae. The specimens were vouchers for chemical work being carried out by Professor D. E. White and Dr. P. R. Jefferies in the Organic Chemistry Department of the University of Western Australia, and the determinations were required for a paper then in preparation. In the absence of Mr. L. A. S. Johnson, during I962-3 the Australian Liaison Officer at Kew, who had recently returned home, the specimens were examined by Dr. R. Melville. In February 1964 he sent to Perth a list of determinations, in which he indicated that probably three new species were involved. In July 1964 Mr. Royce forwarded to Kew a supplementary consignment of fresh gatherings of these species, providing male or female material where this had been lacking. A final consignment of miscellaneous species of Beyeria and Bertya was received from Mr. Royce in January 1965. Unfortunately, owing to other commitments, Dr. Melville was unable to attend further to this enquiry before his retirement in March 1968, and the matter remained in abeyance. When Mr. P. S. Green, who succeeded Dr. Melville in the Australian section of the Kew Herbarium, came upon the specimens and correspondence in 1970, he approached the author of the present note, in view of his previous work on the family, as to the possibility of taking the matter up, and the ensuing pages are the outcome. The long delay in dealing with the enquiry is much regretted. In the following account the numbers and letters prefixed to each species indicate their appropriate position according to the monograph by Griining in Engler, Pflanzenr. IV. 147. Euphorb.-Poranth. & Ricinoc.: 49-75 (1913). The treatment of the complex surrounding Beyeria brevifolia must be regarded as highly provisional. It is evident that this whole group of puzzling but attractive Australian shrubs presents great scope for further investigation. Unless otherwise indicated, the specimens cited below are in the Western Australian Herbarium (PERTH).