Dryandra ser. Niveae facts for kids
Dryandra ser. Niveae was once a special group of plants within the larger plant family called Dryandra. Imagine it like a small club within a bigger club! This group was first described by a scientist named George Bentham in 1870. Later, in 1996, another scientist, Alex George, changed how this group was defined. However, in 2007, two scientists, Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele, decided that all Dryandra plants were actually part of the Banksia family. Because of this, the Dryandra ser. Niveae group is no longer used today. It's like a club that merged into a much bigger one!
How George Bentham Saw It
Back in 1870, George Bentham was one of the first scientists to try and organize these plants. He described the Dryandra ser. Niveae group as plants with very short flowering stems that grew from a creeping root. These plants had one or a few round flower-heads. They also had long leaves that were white underneath, except for one type called D. nana.
Bentham included four main types of plants in his Niveae group. For example, he included D. nivea (which is now known as Banksia nivea) and D. nana (now Banksia nana). His way of grouping plants helped scientists understand them better at the time.
How Alex George Changed It
Over many years, scientists found it hard to tell the different plants in Bentham's Niveae group apart. Their flowers and fruits looked very similar! Because of this, the name Dryandra nivea started to be used for the whole group, and other specific names were forgotten.
In 1996, a scientist named Alex George decided to take a closer look. He realized that even though the flowers looked similar, the leaf shapes were different enough to tell the plants apart! He brought back some of the old names and even found some new types of plants.
George redefined the Niveae group. He said it included plants where the flowers in a flower head formed a circle around a central hole. His new way of grouping these plants helped scientists classify them more accurately based on their unique features, especially their leaves.
What Happened Recently
Since 1998, scientists like Austin Mast have been using new technology, like DNA testing, to study how plants are related. Think of it like a plant family tree! Their research showed something surprising: the Dryandra plants were actually very closely related to the Banksia plants. In fact, it looked like Dryandra plants had grown out of the Banksia family.
So, in 2007, Mast and Kevin Thiele made a big change. They decided to combine all Dryandra plants into the Banksia family. This meant that the old groups, like Dryandra ser. Niveae, were no longer needed. Now, all these plants are considered part of the Banksia ser. Dryandra group. Scientists are still studying the DNA of these plants to understand their relationships even better.
