Species profile—Eryngium fontanum

Classification

Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → Apiaceae → Eryngium fontanum

Sighting data

Download

KML | CSV | GeoJson

Species details

Kingdom

Plantae (plants)

Class

Equisetopsida (land plants)

Family

Apiaceae

Scientific name

Eryngium fontanum A.E.Holland & E.J.Thomps.

WildNet taxon ID

6515

Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA) status

Endangered

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC) status

Endangered

Conservation significant

Yes

Confidential

No

Wetland status

Wetland Indicator Species

Endemicity

Native

Pest status

Nil

Description

Eryngium fontanum is an erect, perennial herb to 1 m, that has a circular cluster of leaves at its base and a solid fleshy taproot. The deep green leaves are erect, long and thin, to 40 cm long and 24 mm wide, hollow, distantly septate, and lacking teeth but tapering to a fine point at the apex.
The branched inflorescences (flowering stems) are each subtended by a pair of sessile leaf-like bracts which are narrowly triangular, subequal, 3-15 mm long and 1-2 mm wide, and lack teeth. The flowering heads are more or less conical, 6-9 mm long and wide, with triangular subtending bracts 3-6 mm long and pungent pointed. The flower petals are c. 1 mm long, white tinged blue. Fruit are obovoid, to 2 mm long, dark brown with ten faint ribs, and completely covered with inflated white scales.
Eryngium fontanum differs from the related E. plantagineum by the leaves which lack teeth and the much smaller inflorescence bracts which also lack teeth. E. plantagineum has dentate or deeply divided inflorescence bracts that are 4-7 cm long. (Holland & Thompson 1994; Fensham et al. 2008)

Map

View Map

Distribution

Eryngium fontanum is only known from two spring wetland complexes. These complexes are located on the eastern border of the Great Artesian Basin in central Queensland. These populations are about 150km apart, and both are found within a larger regional group of springs called the Barcaldine spring supergroup. (Fensham et al. 2008; Herbrecs 2008)

Distributional limits

-22.0909473, 145.4117305
-23.2912278, 146.2497223

Range derivation

Range derived from extent of the taxon's verified records

Habitat

Eryngium fontanum is found in permanent spring-fed wetland habitats with a groundwater source from the Great Artesian Basin. These areas are subject to frequent inundation. (Fensham et al. 2008)

Reproduction

Eryngium fontanum flowers between December and April, and produces small seeds. (Fensham et al. 2008)

Status notes

The population at the type locality contains about 200 plants but the species was not found in any similar sites in the area. The most immediate threat to this species is from cattle grazing and trampling. Depletion of the Great Artesian Basin is also a potential long-term threat.

Management documents

Fensham, R., Ponder, W. & Fairfax, R. (2008). Recovery plan for the community of native species dependent on natural discharge of groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin. Report to Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra. Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane.

Notes

Contributors: Ailsa Holland, Mellisa Mayhew 18/07/2009

References

Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (2008). Eryngium fontanum in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra. Accessed 30/09/2008. http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/sprat.pl
Fensham, R., Ponder, W. & Fairfax, R. (2008). Recovery plan for the community of native species dependent on natural discharge of groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin. Report to Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra. Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane.
Herbrecs (2008). Eryngium fontanum, in BriMapper version 2.12. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed 30/09/2008.
Holland, A.E. & Thompson, E.J. (1994). Eryngium fontanum A.E. Holland & E.J. Thompson, (Apiaceae), a new species from Central Queensland. Austrobaileya 4(2): 155.

Profile author

Ailsa Holland (18/07/2009)

Other resources

• Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT)
• The Australasian Virtual Herbarium (AVH)
• Atlas of Living Australia

Data source

This profile data is sourced from the QLD Wildlife Data API using the Get species by ID function used under CC-By 4.0.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species/?op=getspeciesbyid&taxonid=6515.

This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.