Vascular Plants Australian Plant Name Index (APNI)

Showing Ophelia baxteri
Gentianaceae Juss.
Ophelia baxteri Griseb. , legitimate, scientific
Grisebach, A.H.R. (1838), Genera et Species Gentianearum adjectis Observationibus Quibusdam Phytogeographicis: 318 [tax. nov.]
  • Type: "v.s. sp. in herb. Hook ... Nova Hollandia. King George's Sound (Baxter!)."
Adams, L.G. in Orchard, A.E. (ed.) (1996), Gentianaceae. Flora of Australia 28: 104 [secondary reference]
  • Text: "This taxon, for which the only record is the above collection [i.e. "v.s. sp. in herb. Hook ... Nova Hollandia. King George's Sound (Baxter!)."], would seem from the photograph and ex descr. to belong in Swertia L., a genus so far not reliably reported for Australia; Bentham (1868) made no mention of the record. The supposed type specimen in K carries the original label in W.J.Hooker's hand, but annotated later by J.D.Hooker with 'Ceylon' and 'O. zeylanica'; then in 1978 it was routinely determined by L.H.Cramer as 'Swertia zeylanica (Griseb.) C.B.Clarke'. This is a montane species considered endemic to Ceylon (Cramer 1981). If this determination is to be relied on (and there seems no reason to doubt it), the alternative possibilities of (a) a disjunct and discordant range, or (b) an accidental introduction, both tax credibility. The inference drawn here is that the specimen somehow became mislabelled prior to Grisebach's name and description; the existence of Ophelia baxteri Griseb. as a distinct entity thus must remain in doubt for the present."
Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (7 July 2021), Australian Plant Census: - APC [secondary reference]
  • APC Comment: A name of uncertain application, possibly referable to Swertia L. (see L.G.Adams in A.E.Orchard (ed.), Fl. Australia 28: 104 (1996).