A revision of the Sphaerolobium fornicatum complex (Leguminosae: Mirbelieae) from south-west Western Australia

Abstract

In this paper the Sphaerolobium fornicatum Benth. complex is revised. The name S. fornicatum is correctly applied to collections with very slender stems and opposite phyllotaxis from near the south coast of Western Australia and two new, closely allied species, S. calcicola R.Butcher and S. hygrophilum R.Butcher, are described and distinguished from S. fornicatum. A morphometric study shows that these three taxa are distinct and a UPGMA classification and MDS ordination of selected specimens is presented. Illustrations, distribution maps and full descriptions of the taxa within this complex are provided, together with a taxonomic key to these and other species of Sphaerolobium possessing distinctly black-punctate calyces.