Dracophyllum

Dracophyllum is a genus of plants belonging to the family Ericaceae, formerly Epacridaceae. There are some one hundred or so species in the genus, mostly shrubs, but also cushion plants and trees, found in New Zealand, Australia, Lord Howe Island and New Caledonia.[1] The name Dracophyllum, meaning dragon-leaf, refers to their strong similarity to the unrelated Dracaena, sometimes known as dragon tree. Although dicotyledonous, they resemble primitive monocots with their slender leaves concentrated in clumps at the ends of the branches; they are sometimes called grass-trees.

The height varies from one centimetre (D. minimum) to about 12 metres (D. longifolium).

Dracophyllum is a genus in the family Ericaceae published by Labill in Voy. 2: 210. T. 40 (1798), with 61 species and 2 varieties. [22]

Dracophyllum has been found closely related to Richea and Sphenotoma, which are two genera endemic to south-eastern Australia and south-western Australia respectively. The three genera form a prominent clade in the strict consensus tree based on a molecular analysis by Crayn et al. in 1998. Traditionally, Dracophyllum is divided into three subgenera: subgenus Dracophyllum with 20 species found across New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Lord Howe Island, and New Caledonia; subgenus Cordophyllum with one species in New Caledonia; and subgenus Oreothamnus with 29 species in New Zealand and Tasmania. [23]

Brief History

The first two specimens of the genus Dracophyllum were collected by J.R. Forster and his son J. G. A. Forster in March 1773 in Fiordland, New Zealand and described as two different species Epacris longifolia (Dracophyllum longifolium) and Epacris rosmarinifolia (Dracophyllum rosmarinifolium). Now the genus Epacris is used to describe an endemic Australian genus of 40 species other than the one published by the Forsters.

In 1800, the genus name Dracophyllum was used for the first time by Labillardière to describe a plant specimen collected in New Caledonia. Ten years after the first Dracophyllum species was published, Robert Brown divided the genus into two subgenera: Dracophyllum and Sphenotoma based on some distinct morphological traits of corolla, stamens, bracts, and inflorescence. The first full description of the genus Dracophyllum was published by De Candolle in 1838 and was included in the family Epacrideae. In 1844, Hooker gave the first full descriptions of the species and the species relationships, mentioning that Sphenotoma had been raised to genus level by Sweet in 1827. A century later, Dracophyllum (as Eudracophyllum), Oreothamnus had been raised to subgenus level and Cordophyllum was described as a third subgenus by Oliver in 1928. Sphenotoma was removed from the genus. [23]