TAXONOMIC NOTES ON AUSTEALIAN MALVACEAE Paul A. Fryxell 1 {Communicated by Mr. R. H. Anderson) [Read 29th November, 1967] Synopsis New combinations or changes of rank are made in the genera Urena, Hibiscus and Alyogyne. Three new taxa are described, all in varietal rank. A key to the varieties of Hibiscus sturtii Hook, is provided. Examination of material from Central Australia has brought to light some new taxa, described below, and has indicated the necessity for certain nomen-clatural changes. 1. Urena spenceri (Ewart) Fryxell, comb. nov. Hibiscus spenceri Ewart in Ewart & Davies, Fl. N. Terr. 186 (1917). When Ewart assigned this species to Hibiscus, he apparently overlooked its 10 styles and stigmas, which suggest its placement in Urena. Other morpho-logical features support the suggestion. The most notable additional features are the elaborate foliar nectaries with prominent yellow borders (cf. Janda, Osterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 86 : 81-130, 1937) and the pentamerous involucel, the lobes of which are alternate with those of the calyx. In Hibiscus the involucel is only rarely pentamerous (and then not uniformly so), and its divisions are independent of those of the calyx. Northern Territory : 6 miles out from Daly Eiver, C. S. Eobinson E 87, 4 Feb. 1964, (NT 10928) : Cullen Eiver, 40 miles N. of Katherine, N. G. Eddy 214 [with annotation : " Matches TYPE exactly (from Cullen Creek, 5/7/1911, Baldwin Spencer) G. Chippendale 18/1/1960 at Sydnev Herb."], 6 Apr. 1958, (NT 5254) : South Plains area, Humpty Doo, D. Tulloch s.n., Mar. 1961, (NT 8030) : Holmes Jungle, 8 miles E. of Darwin, G. Chippendale s.n., 22 Mar. 1961, (NT 7909). 2. Hibiscus microcheaenus F. Muell., Fragm. 2 : 116 (1861) a. Hibiscus microchlaenus F. Muell. var. microchlaenus. Northern Territory : 10 miles N.E. of Alexandria Station, E.A. Perry, 1480 22 June, 1948 (NT) 1488 (NT) : 30 miles S.S.W. of Wavehill Station, E. A. Perry and M. Lazarides 2224, 21 June, 1949 (NT) : Haast's Bluff, E. E. Wink-worth 1389 (NT) : Desert grazing area, Hamilton Downs, G. Chippendale s.n., 23 Sep. 1955, (NT 1749) : Tanami area, A. W. Banks s.n., July, 1948, (NT 2400, 2401) : 18 miles W. of Soudan, G. Chippendale s.n., 29 Mar. 1963, (NT 10659) : 3-2 miles E. of O.T. Downs H.S., G. Chippendale s.n., 11 Mar. 1959, (NT 5511, TAES) : The Granites, J. B. Cleland s.n., 14 Aug. 1936, (ADW 10113). b. Hibiscus microchlaenus F. Muell. var. leptocladus (Benth.) Fryxell, stat. nov. Hibiscus leptocladus Benth. Fl. Austr. 1 : 214 (1863). This taxon appears to be only varietally distinct from H. microchlaenus (F. Muell. Fragm. 2 : 116, 1861) and is therefore reduced to varietal rank. The two varieties may be distinguished by the length of the involucral bracts (5-9 mm. 1 Geneticist, Crops Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas. Pkoceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, Vol. 92, Part 3
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