Floydia

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Ordo: Proteales

Familia: Proteaceae
Subfamilia: Grevilleoideae
Tribus: Roupaleae
Subtribus: Floydiinae
Genus: Floydia
Species: F. prealta
Name

Floydia L.A.S.Johnson & B.G.Briggs
References

USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Floydia in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 08-Apr-12.

Floydia is a monotypic species of tree in the family Proteaceae native to Australia. It is a somewhat rare tree found only growing in the rainforests of southeastern Queensland and northern New South Wales. The sole species is Floydia praealta which is commonly known as the ball nut or possum nut.

The tree has a superficial resemblance to the closely related Macadamia and could be confused with them. The fruit of F. praealta is poisonous.

The species was formally described in 1862 by Victorian Government Botanist Ferdinand von Mueller based on plant material collected near the Clarence River in northern New South Wales and the Brisbane River in Queensland. In his publication Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae Mueller named the plant Helicia praealta. The species was transferred to the genus Macadamia in 1901 by Queensland Colonial Botanist Frederick Manson Bailey and then to Floydia in 1975 by Lawrie Johnson and Barbara Briggs.[1]
References

"Floydia praealta". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra. Retrieved 22 July 2013.