Bauera is a small genus of four species of flowering shrubs in the family Cunoniaceae (order Oxalidales), all endemic to eastern Australia. The genus is characterised by erect or prostrate shrubs bearing trifoliate leaves arranged in opposite pairs; the arrangement causes leaves to appear as simple leaves in whorls of six along the stems. Flowers arise singly from leaf axils and are bisexual, with four to ten spreading sepals and four to ten pink or white petals that are egg-shaped (narrower at the base) and longer than the sepals. Stamens are four to many in number, with thread-like filaments. The ovary consists of two fused carpels and two styles, and the fruit is a loculicidal capsule. The best-known species, Bauera rubioides (dog rose or river rose), is widespread across south-eastern Australia including South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. Bauera sessiliflora (Grampians bauera) is restricted to Victoria. The genus was first formally described by Henry Cranke Andrews in The Botanist's Repository, based on an unpublished description by Joseph Banks, with Bauera rubioides as the first published species. It was named in honour of the Austrian botanical illustrators Ferdinand Bauer and Franz Bauer.
Etymology
The genus Bauera was named in honour of the brothers Ferdinand Bauer and Franz Bauer, who were Austrian botanical illustrators. The name was applied by Henry Cranke Andrews when he formally described the genus in The Botanist's Repository, drawing on an unpublished description by Joseph Banks.
Distribution
All four species of Bauera are endemic to eastern Australia. Bauera rubioides has the widest range, occurring in South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. Bauera sessiliflora is restricted to Victoria (Grampians region), while Bauera capitata occurs in Queensland and New South Wales, and Bauera microphylla is found in New South Wales.
Taxonomy Notes
The genus was first formally described by Henry Cranke Andrews in The Botanist's Repository, based on an unpublished description by Joseph Banks; the first published species was Bauera rubioides. GBIF places the genus in family Cunoniaceae, order Oxalidales. The Australian Plant Census (as of December 2021) recognises four accepted species: B. capitata, B. microphylla, B. rubioides, and B. sessiliflora.
