Species profile—Neisosperma kilneri

Classification

Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → Apocynaceae → Neisosperma kilneri

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Species details

Kingdom

Plantae (plants)

Class

Equisetopsida (land plants)

Family

Apocynaceae

Scientific name

Neisosperma kilneri (F.Muell.) Fosberg & Sachet

WildNet taxon ID

11215

Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA) status

Vulnerable

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC) status

Vulnerable

Conservation significant

Yes

Confidential

No

Endemicity

Native

Pest status

Nil

Description

Neisosperma kilneri is a tree that grows to 20 m high which exudes white latex when cut. It has grey outer bark that is occasionally pitted. The leaves are petiolate and occur in whorls of 3 or 4. The lamina is elliptic to obovate, glabrous, up to 14 cm long and 6.5 cm wide, with a dark green upper surface and golden-brown lower surface, There are 25 to 30 prominent secondary veins on the lower surface. The lamina tip is rounded to retuse; the base is cuneate and the petiole is 3 to 6 mm long. The inflorescences are arranged in a branched panicle 5 to 17 cm long. The peduncles are 10 to 35 mm long. The flowers are 7 mm long and 7 mm in diameter, cream in colour and strongly scented. The stamens are inserted 1.5 to 1.6mm from the top of the corolla tube. The fruit are ellipsoid shaped, 45 to 55 mm long by 25 to 35 mm wide and red when mature (Forster, 1993; Forster, 1986).
Neisosperma kilneri is a distinctive species with its large fruit with the characteristic woody and intricately pattered fibrous endocarp. It also differs from N. poweri (the only other Australian species) by the well developed inflorescence which extends well beyond the foliage (Forster, 1993; Forster, 1986).

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Distribution

Neisosperma kilneri occurs at elevations between 80 and 200 m asl. It is often found in discrete patches, with a number of age classes (seedlings to parent trees) present, and may be locally common to abundant (Pollock, 1996; Queensland Herbarium, 2011). The species is known from three localities on the central Queensland coast; near Mt Dryander, Mt Blackwood and Koumala, south of, Mackay. The species is conserved within Mt Dryander National Park and Pioneer National Park (Queensland Herbarium, 2012).

Distributional limits

-20.2672778, 148.5760818
-21.923432, 149.4260872

Range derivation

Range derived from extent of the taxon's verified records

Habitat

Neisosperma kilneri prefers granitic, boulder-strewn gully situations, or occurs along the lower boulder-strewn slopes of low hills and ranges beside flowing streams. The species is confined to notophyll vine forest and subtropical rainforest. Associated species include Araucaria cunninghamiana, Paraserianthes toona, Argyrodendron trifoliolatum, Bosistoa and Dissiliaria indistincta (Forster, 1996; Queensland Herbarium, 2012).

Behaviour

Plants are infrequently cultivated. The fruit is poisonous (Forster, 1996). Old woody fruits are often found some distance down slope from the parent plant, thus suggesting gravity and water may be important dispersal mechanisms for N. kilneri (Pollock, 1996).

Reproduction

Neisosperma kilneri has been recorded as flowering in November-December, February to May and July. Fruits have been documented in January and May to July (Forster, 1993; Queensland Herbarium, 2012).

Threatening processes

The main identified threats to N. kilneri are vegetation clearing; invasion by exotic weeds, such as Lantana (Lantana camara); and inappropriate plant collection (Pollock, 1996; DSEWPC; 2012). Fire in some areas is also documented as a major threat (DERM, 2011).

Status notes

Neisosperma kilneri is listed as Vulnerable under the Environment and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and as Vulnerable under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992.

Management documents

Cape Hillsborough, Pioneer Peaks, Mount Ossa, Mount Martin and Reliance Creek National Parks and adjoining State Waters Management Plant 2011.

Management recommendations

Management recommendations include: the improvement of legal seed collection, which suggest that government departments be responsible for issuing sales permits for commercial utilisation and; the protection of N. kilneri and maintenance of its habitat, which suggests a protective buffer that excludes clearing (0.3 ha) with N. kilneri at least 30 m inside the protective barrier, and where practical control or eradicate Lantana at important sites (Pollock, 1996).
DSEWPC (2012) detail regional and local priority recovery and threat abatement actions which can be done to support the recovery of N. kilneri. These include avoiding habitat loss, disturbance and modification (e.g. monitor known population to identify key threats); control of invasive weeds (implement a management plan for Lantana in the region); increasing conservation information (e.g. raise awareness of N. kilneri within the local community); and enabling recovery of additional sites and/or populations (e.g. undertake appropriate seed collection and storage).

Notes

Occurs in the following Queensland pastoral districts: North Kennedy, South Kennedy (Bostock and Holland, 2010). The species occurs within the Mackay Whitsunday (Queensland) Natural Resource Management Region (DSEWPC, 2008).

References

Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPC) (2012). Neisosperma kilneri in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra. Accessed 03/01/2012. http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat.
Forster, P.I. (1993). A taxonomic revision of Neisosperma Raf. (Apocynaceae) in Australia, together with a key to Australian genera of Apocynaceae. Austrobaileya 4 (1): 15, .
Forster, P.I. in Orchard, A.E. (Ed) (1996). Flora of Australia 28: 138.
Pollock, A. (1996). Neisosperma kilneri Species Management Profile. Department of Natural Resources, Brisbane.
Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) (2011). Cape Hillsborough, Pioneer Peaks, Mount Ossa, Mount Martin and Reliance Creek National Parks and adjoining State Waters Management Plan, 2011.
Queensland Herbarium (2012). Specimen label information. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed 03/01/2012.

Profile author

Lynise Wearne (03/01/2012)

Other resources

• Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT)
• The Australasian Virtual Herbarium (AVH)
• Atlas of Living Australia

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=11215.

This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.