Species profile—Sowerbaea subtilis
Classification
Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → Laxmanniaceae → Sowerbaea subtilis
Sighting data
Species details
- Kingdom
- Plantae (plants)
- Class
- Equisetopsida (land plants)
- Family
- Laxmanniaceae
- Scientific name
- Sowerbaea subtilis D.A.Stewart
- WildNet taxon ID
- 13796
- Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA) status
- Vulnerable
- Conservation significant
- Yes
- Confidential
- No
- Endemicity
- Native
- Pest status
- Nil
- Short Notes
- BRI 192245
- Description
- Sowerbaea subtilis is a glabrous, tufted perennial herb that grows to about 30 to 40 cm high. The leaves are 10 to 30 cm long and 1 mm in diameter; pale green and cylindrical; they are somewhat succulent, bordered in the lower 1 to 2 cm by scarious sheathing margins. The scapes are leafless, erect 15 to 30 cm tall, and are externally similar to the leaves. The inflorescence is a many flowered terminal umbel, (flower cluster), of up to 15 flowers; the flower clusters are subtended by imbricate elliptical bracts; the outer bract is stiff, 5 mm long by 2 mm wide, with a conspicuous dark red midvein; the inner bracts are softer, scarious, laciniate to fimbriate at the margins; the pedicels elongate during floral development and reach 6 to 6.5 mm under the fruit. Perianth segments 6, equal, free, light pink and with a dark red midvein, 6 to 7 mm long by 2 to 2.5 mm wide. There are 3 stamens opposite the inner perianth segments and alternating with 3 staminodes; filaments flattened to 0.5 mm wide in the lower 1.0 mm, then abruptly contracted to 0.2 mm wide in the upper 0.5 mm; the anthers are pale yellow, 1.5 to 2 mm long, basifixed and truncate at the base, erect with 2 linear lobes opening longitudinally and extending to 1.75 times the height of the ovary at anthesis.
Sowerbaea subtilis differs from Sowerbaea juncea in being smaller in most dimensions, being about half as tall, much narrower at the tufted base, and having smaller flowers (Stewart, 1986). - Map
- View Map
- Distribution
- Sowerbaea subtilis is conserved within Byfield National Park, Byfield State Forest and the Shoalwater Bay Military Reserve, north of Yeppoon, in Queensland. (Queensland Herbarium, 2011).
- Distributional limits
- -22.7234217, 150.6594053
-22.8567552, 150.7927387 - Range derivation
- Range derived from extent of the taxon's verified records
- Habitat
- Sowerbaea subtilis grows in sandy heath with Banksia robur, Melaleuca viridiflora, Eucalyptus umbra and Xanthorrhoea, and on the edge of swamps in sedgeland of Empodisma, Baumea and Baloskion (Wang, 1998; DSEWPC, 2012; Queensland Herbarium, 2012).
- Reproduction
- Sowerbaea subtilis has been collected in flower from August to September (Queensland Herbarium, 2011).
- Threatening processes
- The main potential threats to Sowerbaea subtilis include plant collection, inappropriately managed timber harvesting and changes in hydrology and salinity (DSEWPC, 2012).
- Status notes
- Sowerbaea subtilis is listed as Vulnerable under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992
- Management recommendations
- Regional and local priority actions to support the recovery of Sowerbaea subtilis are outlined by DSEWPC (2012). A summary of these include: avoiding habitat loss, disturbance and modification (e.g. monitor known populations to identify key threats; monitor the progress of recovery, including the effectiveness of management actions and
the need to adapt them if necessary); increasing conservation information (raise awareness of Sowerbaea subtilis in the local community); and enabling recovery of additional sites and/or populations (e.g. undertake appropriate seed collection and storage; investigate options for linking, enhancing or establishing additional populations) (DSEWPC, 2012). - Notes
- Occurs in the following Queensland pastoral district: Port Curtis. The species was previously listed as vulnerable under the EPBC Act 1999.
- References
- Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPC) (2012). Sowerbaea subtilis in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra. Accessed 27/06/2012. http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat.
Queensland Herbarium (2012). Specimen label information. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed 11/01/2012.
Stewart, D.A. (1976). Sowerbaea subtilis (Liliaceae), a new species from Queensland. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 87: 85.
Wang, J. (1998). Sowerbaea subtilis Species Management Profile. Department of Natural Resources, Brisbane. - Profile author
- Ronald Booth (21/05/2012)
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=13796.
This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.
