Medicinal plants of New South Wales, Australia

Joanne Packer, Jitendra Gaikwad, David Harrington, Shoba Ranganathan, Joanne Jamie, Subramanyam Vemulpad

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    Abstract

    Australia is one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries (Williams et al. 2001). It is home to over 20,000 vascular and 14,000 nonvascular plants, ∼250,000 species of fungi, and over 3,000 lichens. Of all the vascular plant species and nine plant families, 85% are endemic to the continent (Orchard 1999). This biodiversity is due to the continent’s long isolation after the early Cretaceous breakup of the Gondwana supercontinent, and consequent speciation across its large latitudinal and climatic range (White and Frazier 1986; White 1994). The Australian flora is highly adapted to drought, low soil nutrients, and fire through various physiological characteristics, such as hard seededness, scleromorphy, ligonotuber development, and epicormic buds (Benson 1999).

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationGenetic Resources, chromosome engineering, and crop improvement
    Subtitle of host publicationVolume 6 : medicinal plants
    EditorsRam J Singh
    Place of PublicationBoca Raton ; London ; New York
    PublisherCRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group
    Pages259-296
    Number of pages38
    Volume6
    ISBN (Electronic)9781420073867
    ISBN (Print)9781420073843
    Publication statusPublished - 2012

    Publication series

    NameGenetic Resources, chromosome engineering, and crop improvement series
    PublisherCRC Press

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