Species profile—Marsdenia coronata (slender milkvine)
Classification
Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → Apocynaceae → Marsdenia coronata (slender milkvine)
Sighting data
Species details
- Kingdom
- Plantae (plants)
- Class
- Equisetopsida (land plants)
- Family
- Apocynaceae
- Scientific name
- Marsdenia coronata Benth.
- Common name
- slender milkvine
- WildNet taxon ID
- 11205
- Superseded by
- Leichhardtia coronata (04/06/2021)
- Alternate name(s)
- crowned milkvine
- Conservation significant
- No
- Confidential
- No
- Endemicity
- Exotic
- Pest status
- Nil
- Description
- Marsdenia coronata is a herbaceous vine, with white latex. The roots are tuberous. The indumentum is colourless. The leaves with a petiole 2 to 7 mm long. The lamina is linear to lanceolate, to 5.5 cm long and 1 cm wide, cuneate to rounded at the base, discolorous. The upper surface of the lamina is dark green and glabrous, the lower surface is pale green, glabrous or with scattered trichomes. The tip is acute, the base rounded to cuneate. The petiole is up to 7 mm long and 1mm in diameter grooved along the top, glabrous or with scattered trichomes. There are three to four colleters at the lamina base. The inflorescences are umbelliform, up to 2 cm long. The peduncles are 5 to 8 mm long by 1 mm in diameter, with scattered trichomes. The flowers are 4 to 5mm long and 3 to 4mm in diameter. The pedicels are 4.6 to 8 mm long and 0.4 to 0.5 mm in diameter, with scattered to sparse trichomes. There is one colleter at each sinus base. The corolla is shallowly campanulate, yellow to yellow-green. The corolla tube is 2.6 to 3 mm long. The lobes are triangular, 1.6 to 2 mm long, and 1.5 to 2 mm wide, internally glabrous. Corolline corona are absent. The staminal corona is 0.8 to 1 mm long by 2.4 to 2.5 mm wide. The anther appendages are ovate to triangular. Style-head conical-globose. Pollinia oblong to 0.25 mm long. The follicles are fusiform-ovoid, to 10 cm long. The seeds have not been seen (Forster, 1995; Forster, 1996; Ross, 1996).
Marsdenia coronata is closely allied to M. brevis and M. microlepis. It differs from the latter in its discolorous, lanceolate, mainly glabrous leaves and flattened-campanulate corollas in its flowers (Forster, 1995). - Map
- View Map
- Distribution
- Marsdenia coronata is endemic to south-eastern Australia, occurring as far north as Neerdie State Forest and as far south as Ben Lomond, 6 km north of Maroon. Other locations include: Beninbi State Forest; Imbil State Forest; Beerwah State Forest; Wrattens State Forest; Conondale State Forest; Kenilworth State Forest; Glastonbury State Forest; near Kandanga; north-west of Yandina; western slopes of Mt Coolum; Buderim Mountain; Glass House Mountains; north-west of Mt Beerburrum; Springfield; Daisy Hill State Forest, Logan City; Mt Greville; near Lake Moogerah; Mt Moon, South West of Mount Alford township; Pine Mountain, Possum Creek, and south west of Wamuran. The species is also recorded within Main Range National Park, Mount Coolum National Park and Moogerah Peaks National Park (Queensland Herbarium, 2011).
- Distributional limits
- -26.74, 152.959
-28.1217106, 153.4011209 - Range derivation
- Range derived from extent of the taxon's verified records
- Habitat
- Marsdenia coronata is restricted to south-east Queensland where it commonly grows in rainforest or moist areas of open forest, especially in eucalypt forest (Borsboom and Wang, 1996). It has been observed on rainforest margins. Also recorded from an area of natural grassland on the top of Mt Kandanga, Imbil State Forest. The vine has been found between 40 and 780 m asl, and usually occurs on sandstone or stony soils (Borsboom and Wang, 1996; Queensland Herbariums, 2011). Associated vegetation includes: eucalypt open forest with Corymbia maculata and Eucalyptus crebra; tall open forest of E. propinqua and E. siderophloia with developing shrubby vineforest understorey; open forest of E. pilularis, E. microcorys, Corymbia intermedia; grassy open forest of E. propinqua, E. carnea, and Themeda; Open, grassy forest 25-30m high of Lophostemon confertus, C. intermedia, E. acmenoides, Casuarina littoralis, Banksia integrifolia; in open forest with E. carnea and E. propinqua; open forest of Eucalyptus siderophloia, E. propinqua, Lophostemon confertus; woodland of E. tindaliae with Corymbia and E. carnea with shrubby understorey dominated by Pultenaea euchila (Queensland Herbarium, 2011).
- Behaviour
- The vine can only tolerate light frosts (Borsboom and Wang, 1996).
- Reproduction
- Marsdenia coronata has been recorded as flowering from November-December. There is also one record of flowering June (Queensland Herbarium, 2011). Forster (1996) documents flowering November-March, and fruits 3-4 months later.
- Threatening processes
- Marsdenia coronata is an inconspicuous species and has a restricted distribution. The species is endangered through the destruction of habitat due to clearing and development, mining and inappropriate fire regimes (Borsboom and Wang, 1996; Forster, 1995).
- Status notes
- Marsdenia coronata is listed as Vulnerable under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992
- Management documents
- Borsboom, A. and Wang, J. (1996). Marsdenia coronata Species Management Profile, Department of Natural Resources, Queensland.
- Management recommendations
- Regional and local priority actions to support the recovery of Marsdenia coronata are outlined by DSEWPC (2012). A summary of these include: avoid habitat loss, disturbance and modification (e.g. monitor known populations to identify key threats, monitor the progress of recovery; identify populations of high conservation priority); increase conservation information (raise awareness of M. coronata in the local community); manage fire (develop and implement a suitable fire management strategy for M. coronata); and enable recovery of additional sites and/or populations (e.g. undertake appropriate seed collection and storage, investigate the options for linking, enhancing or establishing additional populations) (DSEWPC; 2012).
Other recommendations for the protection of M. coronata and its habitat include the establishment of a protective barrier (0.25 ha) that excludes timber harvesting and clearing (Borsboom and Wang, 1996). - Notes
- Occurs in the following Queensland pastoral districts: Darling Downs, Moreton, Wide Bay (Bostock and Holland, 2010). The species was listed previously as vulnerable under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
- References
- Borsboom, A. and Wang, J. (1996). Marsdenia coronata Species Management Profile, Department of Natural Resources, Queensland.
Bostock, P.D. and Holland, A.E. (eds) (2010). Census of the Queensland Flora 2010. Queensland Herbarium, Department of Environment and Resource Management, Brisbane.
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPC) (2012). Marsdenia coronata in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra.
Forster, P.I. (1995). Circumscription of Marsdenia (Asclepiadaceae: Marsdenieae), with a revision of the genus in Australia and Papuasia. Australian Systematic Botany 8 (5): 784.
Forster, P.I. in Orchard, A.E. (Ed) (1996). Flora of Australia 28: 267.
Queensland Herbarium (2011). Specimen label information. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed 21/07/2011.
Ross, E.M. in Stanley, T.D. and Ross, E.M. (1986). Flora of South-eastern Queensland 2: 314. - Profile author
- Lynise Wearne (13/12/2011)
Other resources
Data source
This profile data is sourced from the QLD Wildlife Data API using the Get species by ID function used under CC-By 4.0.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species/?op=getspeciesbyid&taxonid=11205.
This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.
