Eidothea
| Eidothea | |
|---|---|
| Eidothea hardeniana | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Proteales |
| Family: | Proteaceae |
| Subfamily: | Proteoideae |
| Genus: | Eidothea A.W.Douglas & B.Hyland |
| Type species | |
| Eidothea zoexylocarya A.W.Douglas & B.Hyland | |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
Eidothea is a genus of two species of rainforest trees in New South Wales and Queensland, in eastern Australia, constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae. The plant family Proteaceae was named after the shape-shifting god Proteus of Greek mythology. The genus name Eidothea refers to one of the three daughters of Proteus.
In 1883 German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller named fossil seeds Xylocaryon lockii from Miocene age sediments excavated in old gold mining sites in Victoria; they match those of Eidothea and are thought to represent the modern plant.
Eidothea is known from geographic areas separated by more than 1,000 km (620 mi), the mountains of the Wet Tropics of north-eastern Queensland, the Nightcap Range area of north-eastern New South Wales and as the fossils from southern Victoria, much further to the south, underlining the fact that Australia's rainforests are tiny remnants of ancient rainforests that millions of years ago covered large parts of Australia. This makes them a particularly precious part of Australia's natural heritage.