Discovering new plants

We discover more than 50 new species of plants, algae, lichens and fungi in Queensland each year.

Botanists at the Queensland Herbarium publish descriptions and illustrations of new species in the Queensland Herbarium journal Austrobaileya. The Census of Queensland Flora records the status and distribution of the State’s flora species.

For information on these publications contact the Herbarium. 

2012 plant species discoveries

In 2012, botanists discovered 22 new Queensland plant species, as documented in the journal Austrobaileya, including:

• 1 trigger plant
• 1 croton
• 2 morning glory species
• 13 spurge species.

Trigger plants

The tiny pink flowers of trigger plants (Stylidium species) have a characteristic ‘trigger’ pollination mechanism where the floral column snaps forward quickly at the lightest touch, covering the insect with pollen. The newly discovered Stylidium elachophyllum is a tiny glandular herb up to 10cm high, found only on the Hann Tableland in North Queensland.

This new species is 1 of 36 trigger plants currently known to occur in Queensland, many of which occur nowhere else. The discovery was made during a BushBlitz survey partly funded by the Australian Government. The new species was described by Tony Bean and Mike Mathieson.

Crotons

Crotons (Croton species) are best known for the garden species that have colourful and shade tolerant foliage. The less well-known native species, like the new Croton lucens, usually have glossy green leaves with a silvery underside consisting of small overlapping scales. This new species is 1 of 28 crotons native to Queensland, and is known from only a small area of state forest near Gympie in South East Queensland. The species was described by Paul Forster.

Morning glory

Morning glories (Ipomoea species) are known for their weediness, but the native species are better behaved. The new species, Ipomoea funicularis from Cape York and Ipomoea limosa from the Gulf Country, are just 2 of the 32 species known to be native to Queensland. They were described by the late honorary research associate Bob Johnson.

Spurges

The genus Euphorbia is a large genus of plants commonly called spurges and includes 38 native Queensland species. Native spurges are mostly small spreading herbs with tiny glandular flowers and 3 cornered fruits. They are common plants of the ground flora in woodlands and shrub lands in Queensland. Thirteen new Euphorbia species have been described by David Halford and Wayne Harris for Queensland as part of a revision of the section Anisophyllum.

Other species

In addition, scientists described these new species:

• 2 silky oaks (Hollandaea species) from the Wet Tropics of Queensland
• 2 native grasses (Calyptochloa species) from central and southern Queensland
• 1 bladderwort (Utricularia species) from northern Queensland.