Beyeria subtecta

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Adelaide

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Beyeria named after Rudolf Beyer (1852-1932), a Dutch cryptogamist. Subtecta from the Greek 'sub' a prefix meaning partially, almost or somewhat and 'tectum' meaning cover; possibly referring to the recurved margins of the leaves which conceal the narrow hairy surface on the underside.

Endemic to South Australia and found only in a small area on the eastern side of Kangaroo Island, growing on laterite soils in mallee vegetation. Native. Very rare in South Australia.
Herbarium region: Kangaroo Island
NRM region: Kangaroo Island
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Sticky dioecious bush to 60 cm tall with slender terete ascending branchlets. Leaves narrow linear to 10 mm long and 1.6 mm wide, margins entire, recurved, upper surface dark-green, glabrous, underside with a narrow band of white appressed hairs and a distinctive mid-vein. Inflorescence axillary and/or terminal on short shoots with solitary flower. Male flowers yellow or white to light-green on slender peduncles, female flowers yellow-green on peduncles to 0.6 mm long. Flowering between June to September. Fruits are dark green ovoid capsule to 3.5 mm long and 2.8 mm wide, glabrous. Seeds are mottled brown ovoid to ellipical seed to 6 mm long and 4 mm wide, shiny, topped by yellow-brown fleshy aril. Seed embryo type is spatulate.

Collect seeds between November and March. Collect maturing capsules, that are fat, green and contain dark, hard seed.

Seed collections for three roadside populations on Kangaroo Island were made in 2016 with the support of the Australian Seed Bank partnership. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for a week or two. Then gently rub the capsules with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieves to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. Seed viability can be variable and seeds are prone to predation. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 80%. This species has physiological dormancy and can be difficult to germinate. However, there was a high level of germination (80%) after treatment with hydrogen peroxide and gibberellic acid.

Location	No. of seeds (weight grams)	Number of plants	Date collected	Collection number Collection location	Date stored	% Viability	Storage temperature
BGA	2,100 (12.33 g)		10-Nov-2008	DJD1370 Kangaroo Island	20-Jul-2009	80%	-18°C
MSB	1,460 (10.8 g)	30+	12-Dec-2016	JRG543 Kangaroo Island		86%
BGA	1,900 (13.25 g)	70+	16-Nov-2015	DJD3237 Kangaroo Island	2-May-2017	70%	-18°C, -80°C
BGA	430 (2.646 g)	5	17-Jan-2017	TST1216 Kangaroo Island	1-Nov-2017	48%	-18°C

Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.

Date	Result	T0	T50	Pre-treatment \| Germination medium \| Incubator: Photoperiod / Thermoperiod
Jul-17	80%	14	42	30% hydrogen peroxide for 20 min, water rinse, 500 mg/L gibberellic acid for 24 h; 1% agar; Incubated under spring/autumn conditions
May-09	68%	49	70	2% calcium hypochlorite 30 min, water rinse; 1% agar with 250 mg/L gibberellic acid; Incubated under spring/autumn conditions
Jul-17	53%	28	63	seed coat nicked with scalpel 1% agar; Incubated under spring/autumn conditions
May-09	32%	49	NA	2% calcium hypochlorite 30 min, water rinse; 1% agar with 100 mg/L potassium nitrate; Incubated under spring/autumn conditions
May-09	4%	98	NA	2% calcium hypochlorite 30 min, water rinse; 1% agar; Incubated under spring/autumn conditions

Result: Maximum percentage of germination observed.
T0: Number of days before first germinant observed.
T50: Number of days to achieve 50% germination.
Pre-treatment: The initial treatment that the seeds received prior to placement on germination media.
Germination medium: The substrate that seeds were placed on for the duration of the germination experiment.
Incubator conditions:
Photoperiod: The duration of light exposure that the seeds were subject to during a 24 hour period.
Thermoperiod: The constant or diurnal temperatures that seeds were subject to during a 24 hour period.
Winter conditions: 15°C 20 h (3am→11pm); 5°C 4 h (11pm→3am) / 10 h light (8am→6pm); 14 h dark (6pm→8am)
Spring/Autumn conditions: 22°C 12 h (8am→8pm); 10°C 12 h (8pm→8am) / 12 h light (8am→8pm); 12 h dark (8pm→8am)
Summer conditions: 30°C 14 h (6am→8pm); 15°C 10 h (8pm→6am) / 14 h light (6am→8pm); 10 h dark (8pm→6am)