Thiele and Ladiges' taxonomic arrangement of Banksia facts for kids
The Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges taxonomic arrangement of Banksia' was a new way of classifying Banksia plants. It was published in 1996 by two scientists, Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges. They wanted to group Banksia species based on how they are related to each other, like a family tree. This new system tried to replace an older one by Alex George from 1981. However, many of their ideas were not accepted by George. A new version of George's system soon replaced it in 1999. Still, some plant collections, called herbaria, continue to use parts of Thiele and Ladiges' ideas.
About Banksia Plants
Banksia is a group of about 80 different species of plants. They belong to the plant family called Proteaceae. These plants are famous Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants. You can easily spot them by their unique flower spikes and cone-like fruits.
Banksia plants come in many shapes and sizes. Some are low-growing, woody shrubs. Others are tall trees that can reach up to 35 meters (about 115 feet) high. They grow almost everywhere in Australia, except in the driest areas.
Banksia flowers produce a lot of nectar. This makes them an important food source for animals that eat nectar. These animals include honeyeater birds and honey possums. Banksia plants are also important for businesses that grow plants or sell cut flowers.
Sadly, many Banksia species are in danger. They are threatened by things like clearing land, frequent bushfires, and diseases. Because of this, several species are now considered rare or endangered.
The first Banksia plants were collected by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr Daniel Solander. They were naturalists on HM Bark Endeavour during Captain James Cook's trip to the Pacific Ocean in 1770. Over the years, different ways of classifying Banksia were created. A system by George Bentham in 1870 was used for over 100 years. Then, in 1981, Alex George published his own new system.
Thiele and Ladiges' Classification System
In 1996, Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges published their study on Banksia. They used a method called cladistic analysis. Think of this as creating a family tree for plants. It shows how different species are related to each other through evolution.
Their "family tree" for Banksia was quite different from the classification system used at the time. So, they created a new system that matched their findings better. In their new system, they made some changes:
- Four plant varieties were changed to become full species. For example, B. conferta var. penicillata became B. penicillata.
- They introduced two new main groups, called "series," and eleven smaller groups, called "subseries."
- Some older groups were removed or changed a lot.
- Six species were left as incertae sedis, meaning their exact place in the new system was uncertain.
Thiele and Ladiges' system aimed to group Banksia plants based on their evolutionary history. This was a new approach for the time.
What Happened Next
In 1999, Alex George published his own updated classification system for Banksia. This was part of a big book series called Flora of Australia. George said that his new system used some ideas from Thiele and Ladiges' work.
However, George mostly did not accept Thiele and Ladiges' new system. He did not agree with their idea to promote four varieties to full species. He also did not keep any of the thirteen new groups that Thiele and Ladiges had introduced.
Even though George did not accept most of their changes, some plant collections in Australia, called herbaria, still follow Thiele and Ladiges on certain points. For example, some still recognize the four species that Thiele and Ladiges had promoted.
