Biology:Milligania

From HandWiki

Milligania is a genus of native perennial plants containing five species which are all found in Tasmania:[1][2][3][4][5]

  • Milligania densiflora Hook.f.
  • Milligania johnstonii F.Muell. ex Benth.
  • Milligania lindoniana Rodway ex W.M.Curtis
  • Milligania longifolia Hook.f.
  • Milligania stylosa (F.Muell. ex Hook.f.) F.Muell. ex Benth.

Formerly belonging to the Liliaceae family, Milligania is now a part of the Asteliaceae family.[4] Three of these species are alpine and subalpine, with the remaining two rare species growing along rivers in the south-west of the state.[4] All five species are restricted to very wet habitats and are typically found growing on waterlogged peat.[4] They are known to form extensive rough mats.[4]

Description

Plants within this genus are perennial, rhizomatous, tufted herbs with short stems, often forming small clumps.[6][7][8][9]

Leaves

The broad, leathery leaves exhibit a triangular shape with pleats resembling those found in the Astelia genus.[4][6] Leaves are alternately arranged[8] and sizes vary from quite small, measuring less than 5 cm in length, to large specimens reaching up to 1.25 m in length.[4] These leaves are sheathing in structure, with some silky hairs.[7]

Flowers and reproduction

The star-like flowers boast six tepals and are prominently displayed in inflorescences above the leaves.[4][6] The flowers are pedicellate with basally fused tepals[9] which are primarily white, occasionally tinged with red at the tube mouth, with dense silky hairs that are rare in Aparagales.[7][8] These inflorescences can reach heights of up to 50 cm, with flowers densely arranged in a panicle formation.[7] Each flower, measuring up to 1.5 cm wide, is abundant and spreading during the summer season.[7] Milligania species are all hermaphroditic and produce bisexual flowers.[10]

Fruit and seeds

Milligania has a dry capsule fruit containing several seeds[9] which contrasts to the fleshy fruit commonly found in the genera Astelia and Neoastelia in the Asteliaceae family.[4][5][8] Milligania, and some Astelia species possess trilocular ovaries.[8] Skottsberg proposed that features such as the capsular fruit, bisexual flowers and simple hairs observed in Milligania are primitive traits, or plesiomorphic.[10] Milligania was considered to be divergent from other genera within the Asteliaceae family due to its semi-inferior ovary and dry fruit.[11]

Roots

Thickened, fleshy roots from a short thick rhizome.[7]

Distribution and habitat

Distribution map of Milligania species in Tasmania.[12]

While Asteliaceae taxa are distributed across Austral and Pacific regions, the primary centre of generic diversity is situated in Australia.[8] All five Milligania species are endemic to Tasmania.[8] According to a distribution map provided by the Atlas of Living Australia, Milligania is mainly distributed on the western side of the state, west of the geographical feature known as Tyler's Corridor.[13] This divide delineates significant differences in Tasmania's geology, climate, and vegetation.[13] Geological composition influences soil types, contributing to dramatic variations in vegetation across the state.[14] The western region typically experiences higher mean rainfall with acidic soils, leading to the prevalence of rainforest, moorland, and wet sclerophyll vegetation.[14][15] Conversely, the eastern part of the state receives lower mean rainfall and has slightly more fertile soils, resulting in predominantly dry sclerophyll vegetation.[14][15]

Plants within the Asteliaceae family exhibit a wide range of habitat preferences but generally thrive in environments with consistent moisture levels.[16] They are commonly found in tall, densely clustered habitats.[17] The five Milligania species occupy habitats ranging from lowland riparian valleys to alpine fellfields.[8]

Surface geology of Tasmania

Taxonomy

The genus name 'Milligania' was initially documented in Hooker's J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 5: 296 (1853).[18] However, its placement within the Asteliaceae family has faced challenges due to insufficient support in a cladistic analysis involving both morphological and molecular data.[11] It has been regarded as an outlier within the family, diverging from the typical characteristics observed in other genera.[9] A cladistic study conducted by Maciunas et al. in 2011 revealed a potential sister relationship between the Neoastelia/Milligania and Collospermum/Astelia clades, based on analysis of morphological data.[19]

Asparagales
 

Orchidaceae

 
 
 
 

Boryaceae

 
 
 

Blandfordiaceae

 
 
 

Asteliaceae

 
 
 

Lanariaceae

 
 

Hypoxidaceae

 
 
 
 
 
 

remaining Asparagales families

 
 
 

Within the Asteliaceae family, studies conducted in 2012 and 2013 grouped Milligania with Astelia.[8][20] A 2021 study placed Neoastelia and Milligania as sisters:[21]

Asteliaceae
 
 

Neoastelia

 
 

Milligania

 
 
 

Astelia

 
 

Conservation status and threats

Milligania johnstonii and Milligania longifolia are listed as rare under the Threatened Species Act 1995.[22][23] Milligania densiflora is not considered to be at risk in the wild.[24] There is no known status for Milligania lindoniana or Milligania stylosa.

References

  1. ↑ Hooker, William Jackson (1853). Hooker's journal of botany and Kew Garden Miscellany. 5. London: Reeve, Benham, and Reeve. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/6323. 
  2. ↑ "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". https://wcsp.science.kew.org/prepareChecklist.do;jsessionid=9D9ED0C4336F3CB948BC629AB7AE1309.kppapp06-wcsp?checklist=selected_families%40%40129090520211349164. 
  3. ↑ "Search results — The Plant List". http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=Milligania. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 "Key to Tasmanian Dicots". https://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/lilies_etc/gMilligania.htm. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Milligania - Encyclopedia of Life" (in en). https://eol.org/pages/99084. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Home" (in en). https://www.alpinegardensociety.net/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 "HortFlora". https://hortflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/taxon/ada9c0fc-5340-11e7-b82b-005056b0018f. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 Birch, Joanne L.; Keeley, Sterling C.; Morden, Clifford W. (2012-10-01). "Molecular phylogeny and dating of Asteliaceae (Asparagales): Astelia s.l. evolution provides insight into the Oligocene history of New Zealand". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 65 (1): 102–115. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.05.031. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 22664642. Bibcode: 2012MolPE..65..102B. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790312002096. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Bayer, C.; Appel, O.; Rudall, P. J. (1998), Kubitzki, Klaus, ed., "Asteliaceae" (in en), Flowering Plants · Monocotyledons: Lilianae (except Orchidaceae) (Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer): pp. 141–145, doi:10.1007/978-3-662-03533-7_17, ISBN 978-3-662-03533-7 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Skottsberg, Carl Johan Fredrik. "Studies in the genus Astelia Banks et Solander" (in en). (No Title). https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1130282269300046720. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Rudall, PAULA J.; Chase, MARK W.; Cutler, DAVID F.; Rusby, JANET; De bruijn, ANETTE Y. (1998-05-01). "Anatomical and molecular systematics of Asteliaceae and Hypoxidaceae". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 127 (1): 1–42. doi:10.1006/bojl.1997.0164. ISSN 0024-4074. 
  12. ↑ "Search: genus: Milligania | Occurrence records | Atlas of Living Australia". https://biocache.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?q=lsid:https://id.biodiversity.org.au/taxon/apni/51429017#tab_mapView. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Tyler, Peter A. (1992). "A lakeland from the dreamtime the second founders' lecture" (in en). British Phycological Journal 27 (4): 353–368. doi:10.1080/00071619200650301. ISSN 0007-1617. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00071619200650301. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Rees, Andrew B. H.; Cwynar, Les C. (2010). "A test of Tyler's Line – response of chironomids to a pH gradient in Tasmania and their potential as a proxy to infer past changes in pH" (in en). Freshwater Biology 55 (12): 2521–2540. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2010.02482.x. ISSN 0046-5070. Bibcode: 2010FrBio..55.2521R. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2010.02482.x. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Larsen, Kai (1999). "Reid, J. B., Hill, R. S., Brown, M. J. & Hovenden, M. J. (eds). 1999. Vegetation of Tasmania.". Nordic Journal of Botany 19 (5): 622. doi:10.1111/j.1756-1051.1999.tb01151.x. ISSN 0107-055X. 
  16. ↑ Carlquist, Sherwin (2012-06-01). "Monocot Xylem Revisited: New Information, New Paradigms" (in en). The Botanical Review 78 (2): 87–153. doi:10.1007/s12229-012-9096-1. ISSN 1874-9372. Bibcode: 2012BotRv..78...87C. 
  17. ↑ Birch, Joanne L.; Keeley, Sterling C.; Morden, Clifford W. (2012-10-01). "Molecular phylogeny and dating of Asteliaceae (Asparagales): Astelia s.l. evolution provides insight into the Oligocene history of New Zealand". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 65 (1): 102–115. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.05.031. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 22664642. Bibcode: 2012MolPE..65..102B. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790312002096. 
  18. ↑ "WFO Plant List | World Flora Online". https://wfoplantlist.org/taxon/wfo-4000024306-2021-12?page=1. 
  19. ↑ Maciunas, Elizabeth; Conran, John G.; Bannister, Jennifer M.; Paull, Rosemary; Lee, Daphne E. (2011-04-29). "Miocene Astelia (Asparagales: Asteliaceae) macrofossils from southern New Zealand" (in en). Australian Systematic Botany 24 (1): 19–31. doi:10.1071/SB10035. ISSN 1446-5701. https://www.publish.csiro.au/sb/SB10035. 
  20. ↑ Birch, Joanne L.; Keeley, Sterling C. (2013). Richardson, James. ed. "Dispersal pathways across the Pacific: the historical biogeography of Astelia s.l. (Asteliaceae, Asparagales)" (in en). Journal of Biogeography 40 (10): 1914–1927. doi:10.1111/jbi.12169. ISSN 0305-0270. Bibcode: 2013JBiog..40.1914B. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.12169. 
  21. ↑ Birch, Joanne L.; Kocyan, Alexander (2021-10-01). "Biogeography of the monocotyledon astelioid clade (Asparagales): A history of long-distance dispersal and diversification with emerging habitats". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 163. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107203. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 33992785. Bibcode: 2021MolPE.16307203B. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790321001366. 
  22. ↑ "Milligania johnstonii - Threatened Species Link". https://www.threatenedspecieslink.tas.gov.au/Pages/Milligania-johnstonii.aspx. 
  23. ↑ "Milligania longifolia - Threatened Species Link". https://www.threatenedspecieslink.tas.gov.au/Pages/Milligania-longifolia.aspx. 
  24. ↑ "Milligania densiflora" (in en-AU). https://anpsa.org.au/plant_profiles/milligania-densiflora/. 

Wikidata ☰ Q6016547 entry



Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Biology:Milligania&oldid=4102140"