Hibbertia proberae (Dilleniaceae), a new, rare and geographically anomalous species from the Great Victoria Desert of Western Australia

Abstract

Hibbertia proberae K.R.Thiele sp. nov. was discovered in the remote Plumridge Lakes Nature Reserve on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert in Western Australia in autumn 2018. It was highly unexpected at that location as very few species of Hibbertia Andrews occur so far east in southern Western Australia, the only others being H. crispula J.M.Black, which has disjunct populations on the eastern and western margins of the Great Victoria Desert, and disjunct populations of the Western Australian species H. exasperata (Steud.) Briq. near Queen Victoria Springs and the Officer Basin. Subsequently, a second specimen was mounted at PERTH, collected from the Mulga Rock Uranium Project in 2016. Hibbertia proberae is morphologically distinct from any other known species in western or eastern Australia.