Bowenia
Genus of cycads in the family Zamiaceae
title: "Bowenia" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bowenia", "endemic-flora-of-australia", "cycadophyta-of-australia", "flora-of-queensland", "taxa-named-by-joseph-dalton-hooker", "gymnosperm-genera"] description: "Genus of cycads in the family Zamiaceae" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowenia" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of cycads in the family Zamiaceae ::
| image = Bowenia Spectabilis 2 years.jpg | parent_authority = Pilger | taxon = Bowenia | authority = Hook. ex Hook.f. | type_species = Bowenia spectabilis | type_species_authority = Hook.f. | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision =
- †B. eocenica Hill
- †B. papillosa Hill
- B. serrulata (Bull) Chamberlain
- B. spectabilis Hooker
The genus Bowenia includes two living and two fossil species of cycads in the family Stangeriaceae, sometimes placed in their own family Boweniaceae. They are entirely restricted to Australia.
Description
The chromosome count is 2n = 18.
Species
::data[format=table]
| Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| [[File:Bowenia serrulata 6.JPG | 260px]] | Bowenia serrulata Chamb. |
| [[File:Bowenia spectabilis Daintree 2.JPG | 260px]] | Bowenia spectabilis Hook |
| :: |
Distribution
The two living species occur in Queensland. B. spectabilis grows in warm, wet, tropical rainforests, on protected slopes and near streams, primarily in the lowlands of the Wet Tropics Bioregion. However, it has a local form with serrate pinna margins that grows in rainforest, Acacia-dominated transition forest, and also Casuarina-dominated sclerophyll forest on the Atherton Tableland, where it is subject to periodic bushfire. B. serrulata grows in sclerophyll forest and transition forest close to the Tropic of Capricorn.
Fossils
The fossil species Bowenia eocenica is known from deposits in a coal mine in Victoria, Australia, and B. papillosa is known from deposits in New South Wales. Both fossils are of Eocene age, and consist of leaflet fragments. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Bowenia_spectabilis_Daintree_2.JPG" caption="Bowenia spectabilis in the Daintree Rainforest in northeast Queensland, Australia"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Bowenia_Lake_Tinaroo_1.JPG" caption="Bowenia Lake Tinaroo form in sclerophyll woodland near Lake Tinaroo, Atherton Tableland, far north Queensland"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Bowenia_Lake_Tinaroo_2.JPG" caption="Serrulate margin of the pinnae on a wild plant of Bowenia Lake Tinaroo form, at Lake Tinaroo, Atherton Tableland, Queensland, Australia"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Bowenia_Lake_Tinaroo_5.JPG" caption="Bowenia Lake Tinaroo form in sclerophyll woodland near Lake Tinaroo, Atherton Tableland, far north Queensland"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Bowenia_serrulata_6.JPG" caption="Bowenia serrulata growing in transition forest near Byfield, in the Capricornia region of Queensland, Australia"] ::
References
References
- Hill, Ken. "The Cycad Pages". Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney.
- Stevenson, D.W.. (1981). "Observations on ptyxis, phenology, and trichomes in the ''Cycadales'' and their systematic implications". American Journal of Botany.
- (2024-01-03). "Bowenia Hook. ex Hook. f.".
- [http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=382290 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]
- (1999). "A world list of Cycads". Excelsa (Journal of the Aloe, Cactus and Succulent Society of Zimbabwe).
- (2011). "A new classification and linear sequence of extant gymnosperms". Phytotaxa.
- Hill, R.S.. (1978). "Two new species of ''Bowenia'' Hook, ex Hook, f. from the Eocene of eastern Australia". Australian Journal of Botany.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::