Finschia
| Finschia | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Proteales |
| Family: | Proteaceae |
| Subfamily: | Grevilleoideae |
| Tribe: | Embothrieae |
| Subtribe: | Hakeinae |
| Genus: | Finschia Warb.[1][2][3] |
| Type species | |
| Finschia rufa | |
| Species | |
|
See list | |
Finschia is a genus of four[1] recognised species of large trees, constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae. They grow naturally in New Guinea and its surrounding region, in habitats from lowland rainforests to steep highland forests.[2][3][4]
Description
Members of the genus Finschia are trees which grow up to 35 m (115 ft) tall. They often have large stilt roots growing out from up the trunk, sometimes from as high up as 1.8 m (6 ft) off the ground. Leaves are simple and entire with straight, pinnate, parallel veins collected by a looped intermarginal vein.
Flowers are arranged on an inflorescence, the pedicels are solitary or in pairs, free or joined at the lower part. The perianth is curved, the segments becoming free with subglobose limbs, Stamens are sessile or nearly so in the concave segments. The ovary has a single locule containing two ovules, is borne on a slender stipe and usually protrudes from the perianth in mature buds. Fruits are indehiscent, globular with a thin, fleshy exterior and thick, woody interior, containing 1 or 2 seeds with thick, fleshy cotyledons. The floral characteristics are described as being similar to that of Grevillea and the fruit similar to Helicia.[2][3][4]
Distribution
Finschia is distributed throughout Malesia and Papuasia. It is the only genus of the family Proteaceae that occurs naturally in the Solomon Islands. The most widely distributed species, F. chloroxantha occurs in Papua New Guinea and West Papua, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, the Aru Islands, Palau and Vanuatu. The species F. carrii, F. ferruginiflora and F. rufa are found only on the main island of Papua New Guinea.[3][5]
Taxonomy
The genus Finschia was first formally described in Botanische Jahrbücher fur Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie in 1891. It was named after German explorer Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch.[6]
Published scientific morphology and anatomy observations places Finschia within the subtribe Hakeinae (tribe Embothrieae) and correlates the genus most closely with some species of Grevillea, then after that with Hakea.[7][8] Dutch botanist H. O. Sleumer included them within the genus Grevillea in 1939 and in his 1958 Flora Malesiana (Proteaceae) description as again Finschia.[2][4] In 2009 the first step was reported in the still early studies of their genetics.[9][10]
The official national herbaria in Lae, Papua New Guinea holds numerous specimens of undescribed, potentially new species.[2][3]
People from the region of New Guinea working professionally in government or science have published written reports of some of the traditional knowledge and uses of these species. The cooking and eating of the seeds after their planting and establishment as crops has been described in published written form in reports, articles and books.[2][3][4]
Species
There are currently four species accepted by Plants of the World Online, published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.[1]
| Species name | Distribution | IUCN status[5] |
|---|---|---|
| Finschia carrii (Sleumer) C.T.White | New Guinea | |
| Finschia chloroxantha Diels | New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, Aru Islands, Palau and Vanuatu | |
| Finschia ferruginiflora C.T.White | New Guinea | |
| Finschia rufa Warb. | New Guinea |
References
- ^ a b c "Finschia Warb". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ^ a b c d e f White, Cyril T. (July 1949). "Finschia—a genus of "nut" trees of the Southwest Pacific". Pacific Science. (Repository page linking to PDF full text). 3 (3). University of Hawai'i Press: 187–194. hdl:10125/8929. ISSN 0030-8870.
- ^ a b c d e f Foreman, Don B. (1995). "Proteaceae". In Conn, Barry J. (ed.). Handbooks of the flora of Papua New Guinea. (Digitised, online, freely available via www.pngplants.org). Vol. 3. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. pp. 221, 228–232. Retrieved 11 Mar 2026.
- ^ a b c d Sleumer, Hermann O. (1958). "Finschia". Flora Malesiana (Digitised, online). Series I, Spermatophyta : Flowering Plants. Vol. 5 Proteaceae. Leiden, Netherlands: Rijksherbarium / Hortus Botanicus, Leiden University. pp. 159–164. Retrieved 11 Mar 2026.
- ^ a b "Finschia - IUCN Red List". Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ^ Engler, Adolf (1881). Botanische Jahrbücher fur Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie (in German). Vol. 13. Schweizerbart [etc.] pp. 297, 298.
- ^ Weston, Peter H.; Barker, Nigel P. (2006). "A new suprageneric classification of the Proteaceae, with an annotated checklist of genera". Telopea. 11 (3): 314–344. doi:10.7751/telopea20065733.
- ^ Catling, D.M. (2010). "Vegetative anatomy of Finschia Warb. and its place in Hakeinae (Proteaceae)". Telopea. 12 (4): 491–504. doi:10.7751/telopea20105840.
- ^ Sauquet, Hervé; Weston, Peter H.; et al. (6 Jan 2009). "Contrasted patterns of hyperdiversification in Mediterranean hotspots". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (1): 221–225. Bibcode:2009PNAS..106..221S. doi:10.1073/pnas.0805607106. PMC 2629191. PMID 19116275.
- ^ Mast, Austin R.; Milton, Ethan F.; et al. (1 Mar 2012). "Time-calibrated phylogeny of the woody Australian genus Hakea (Proteaceae) supports multiple origins of insect-pollination among bird-pollinated ancestors". American Journal of Botany. 99 (3): 472–487. doi:10.3732/ajb.1100420. PMID 22378833.