First record of the Gnetales in Australia: 
Gnetum gnemon L. (Gnetaceae) on Badu and 
Mua islands, Torres Strait, Queensland 
David G. Fell 1 , David J. Stanton, Dick Williams, Frank Loban, Frank Nona, 
Troy Stow, John Wigness, Erimiah Manas & Guyai Uiduldam 
Summary 
Fell, D.G., Stanton, D.J., Williams, D., Loban, F., Nona, F., Stow, T., Wigness, J., Manas E., and 
Uiduldam G. (2015). First record of the Gnetales in Australia: Gnetum gnemon L. (Gnetaceae) on 
Badu and Mua Islands, Torres Strait, Queensland. Austrobaileya 9(3): 421-430. The gymnosperm 
order Gnetales is reported for the first time in Australia, from specimens of Gnetum gnemon collected 
on two continental islands in Torres Strait, Queensland. The distribution, habitat, ecology and local 
conservation status of the species are discussed, and its origins in Torres Strait are considered with 
reference to biogeographic and anthropogenic factors. 
Key Words: Gnetaceae, Gnetum gnemon , Australia flora, Queensland flora, Badu Island, Mua Island, 
Torres Strait 
‘David G. Fell, P.O. Box 337, Alstonville, NSW 2477, Australia. Email: dgfell@westnet.com.au 
Introduction 
Gnetum L. is the sole genus within the 
family Gnetaceae and order Gnetales of the 
gymnosperms. The genus consists of about 40 
species with 10 species in South America, one 
in tropical West Africa, and 20-25 species in 
tropical and subtropical Asia (Markgraf 1929, 
1977; Maheshwari & Vasil 1961; Verheij & 
Sukendar, 1991; Carlquist 1994, 1996; Price 
1996; Wonn & Renner 2006, Hou et al. 2015). 
The origins and evolutionary relationships 
of the gnetophytes are considered as central 
toward understanding the origin of flowers 
and seed plant evolution (Markgraf 1929; 
Chamberlain 1935; Price 1996; Hansen et al. 
1999; Winter et al. 1999; Manner & Eleivich 
2006). Recent genetic studies now recognise 
that gnetophytes are more closely related to 
conifers than to angiosperms (Hansen et 
al. 1999; Winter et al. 1999; Becker et al. 
2000), and that the major lineages of Gnetum 
diverged in the Late Cretaceous (Hou et al. 
2015). 
Accepted for publication 21 August 2015 
Gnetum gnemon L. has a wide distribution 
in Malesia and the Western Pacific and is 
native to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the 
Solomons, and Vanuatu (Verheij & Sukendar 
1991; Manner & Eleivich 2006; Wonn & 
Renner 2006; Bourke 2010). In Papua New 
Guinea it occurs in the Morobe, Eastern 
Highlands, Western Highlands, Central, 
East Sepik, Sandaun (West Sepik), Manus 
Island, New Ireland, Western, Bougainville, 
New Britain, Madang, Milne Bay, and Gulf 
Provinces (Conn & Damas 2006). It is 
previously known in Australia only from 
cultivated trees in the vicinity of Darwin 
(Atlas of Living Australia, 2012; I. Cowie 
pers. comm., November 2012). 
Gnetum gnemon is a dioecious evergreen 
tree 15-30 m in height in the canopy or 
subcanopy with a trunk diameter at breast 
height to 40 cm (Peekel 1984; Conn & Damas 
2006; Manner & Eleivich 2006). The trunk is 
smooth and cylindrical with prominent raised 
swollen bands (100-300 mm apart) caused 
by the growth and fall of the opposite and 
symmetrical branches (Conn & Damas 2006). 
Leaves are simple and opposite, elliptic, 
lanceolate or oblong-oval, 15-25 cm long and 
5-9 cm wide (Manner & Eleivich 2006). As 
a gymnosperm, Gnetum does not have true 
