Oberonia titania

Red-flowered King of the Fairies at The Gap, NSW

Oberonia titania at The Gap, NSW - 13 Jul 2023
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Identification history

Oberonia titania 20 Jan 2024 Tapirlord
Oberonia palmicola 15 Nov 2023 natureguy
Oberonia titania 15 Nov 2023 poszum

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Significant sighting

Tapirlord noted:

20 Jan 2024

Nationally threatened, primarily by collection. All sightings are of interest

9 comments

Tapirlord wrote:
   15 Nov 2023
Oberonia palmicola I believe. i think O.titania is endemic to lord howe?
poszum wrote:
   15 Nov 2023
Hi this is a confirmed species here
See distribution map and description: https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10571
Tapirlord wrote:
   15 Nov 2023
Yes, I am aware of that. But, the taxonomic situation is more complex. Copeland and Backhouse use O.palmicola in there book on NSW orchids (published 2022), which I think suggests that the name will superseed O.titania on mainland Australia. O.titania is endemic to Norfolk island (not Lord Howe as I had thought) using this intrepretation.
natureguy wrote:
   15 Nov 2023
Species added
poszum wrote:
   16 Nov 2023
Thanks Tapirlord, I wasnt aware of that. It was a species that was uploaded on NSW Native Plant ID facebook recently and O. titania was identified by Copeland.
poszum wrote:
   16 Nov 2023
One question: does that mean it is not Vulnerable under the BCA?
poszum wrote:
   20 Jan 2024
I think before it has been officially re named it is dangerous to identify known threatened species in their 'soon to be names' potentially??
Tapirlord wrote:
   20 Jan 2024
So first off, my apologies for leaving this one so late! It had slipped my mind. Having thought about it some more, I think I am going to tend toward a conservative approach with orchid taxonomy on Naturemapr, which means we will maintain the older name here. Just so you are aware, the spilt would trigger a reassement under the EPBC act if it was accepted by NSW. However, given that the listing also applies to mainland plants as it stands, I see no reason why using the name Oberonia palmicola is dangerous. They are simply synonyms.

Anyhow, Oberonia titania it is. A fantastic record, well done!
poszum wrote:
   20 Jan 2024
Thanks for your time - I appreciate it and all of your work to ID species!!

'Dangerous' is not the right word to use. I just wondered if a development assessment was undertaken prior to it being renamed officially it would not come up as a potential threatened species to consider on a site - and being a species that is dormant in Winter too....field assessments may not pick it up. But I do not know how the logistics of a reassessment or renaming works - but if they are synonyms I think I am starting to understand. Once again - thanks for your time.

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