We demonstrate that the current Gompholobium nitidum comprises three species. Originally described by Robert Brown in 1810 from specimens collected by Banks and Solander from the Endeavour River in 1770, the species was considered highly localised in Far North Queensland but has more recently been deemed a widely distributed plant of extremely variable leaflet form and habit. This work expands our knowledge of the diversity within this group of Gompholobium in north-east Queensland. Photograph by M. T. Mathieson (image 2B5A1345).

This article belongs to the collection: Genomics for Australian plants.

The Swedish Museum of Natural History houses poorly studied Chilean plant fossils that were collected >100 years ago. Among these we found leaf fossils of the Gondwanan Proteaceae family, whose closest relatives are currently found only in Australasian rainforests. These and other fossils from the same ~55-million-year-old assemblage add to evidence that a similar flora was formerly distributed across a vegetated Antarctica, and contradict a long-held view that Chilean forests of that time exclusively comprised Neotropical genera. (Photograph by R. J. Carpenter.)

Tribe Chamelaucieae (Myrtaceae), a diverse, spectacular element of the Australian flora, has over 600 species continent-wide. We sequenced more than 300 nuclear genes for over 100 tribal representatives (including all genera), covering geographic and taxonomic diversity. Our understanding of tribal evolutionary relationships and how clades evolved through time and space improved. Tribal diversification correlates with major past climatic events and many lineages are shown to have dispersed from south-west Australia to the arid zone. (Photograph by Kevin R. Thiele.)

This article belongs to the collection: Genomics for Australian plants.

Zieria obcordata, an endangered species from central New South Wales, faces survival threats due to limited occurrence in two small, isolated populations. We show significant genetic divergence, suggesting that the members of each population should be recognised as separate subspecies, each with low genetic diversity. We recommend testing crosses between these populations to assess compatibility and potential fitness improvements to ehnance genetic diversity.