Grevillea laurifolia subsp. caleyana P.M.Olde (Proteaceae: Grevilleoideae: Hakeinae), a new subspecies from the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

A morphological study of living plants and herbarium specimens has here resulted in the formal recognition of two parapatric subspecies in Grevillea laurifolia Sieber ex Spreng., the autonymic subsp. laurifolia, and the novel subsp. caleyana P.M.Olde. Some critical phenetic characters show a strong morphological approach in specimens collected around Wentworth Falls which suggests that this area is a narrow geographic zone where the two subspecies intergrade. Notwithstanding the morphological approach all specimens examined were classifiable in one or other subspecies on the basis of their pistil lengths. A key to the subspecies of Grevillea laurifolia, descriptions of all taxa discussed, notes on conservation status and distributional information are provided.