60 
study of the coastal and inland populations 
suggests they are both part of the one taxon. 
Study of the pollen from the types of Ipomoea 
incisa and I. cinerascens indicated they 
had smooth colpate pollen and belonged 
to the genus Merremia. However, the new 
combination for M. incisa made by Hallier 
f. was overlooked in Australian literature 
and did not appear in the Australian Plant 
Names Index (Chapman 1991). As suggested 
by Bentham (1869), I. cinerascens appears to 
be a more villous form of I. incisa , and after 
studying the type material I would support his 
views. 
Etymology : The specific epithet refers to 
marginal toothing and incision of the leaf 
blades on the type specimen. 
8. Merremia kimberleyensis R.W. Johnson 
species nova, affinis M. quinatae (R.Br.) 
Ooststr. sed differt foliolis tribus non 
quinque et sepalis acutis, subaequalibus non 
exterioribus obtusis et quam interioribus 
multis brevioribus. Typus: Western 
Australia. Kachana Station, [c. 40 km SE of 
Kununurra], 16°02'S, 128°56'E, 1 January 
1995, T.Handasyde TH.95 KAC 1 (holo: BRI 
[AQ532120 Sheet 2]; iso: BRI; PERTH04431685, 
n.v). 
Perennial with a tap root and trailing stems. 
Stems terete, herbaceous, glabrous. Leaves 
palmately compound, petiolate; petiole 1-11 
cm long; blade ovate to broadly ovate in 
outline, 3-11 cm long, divided into 3 primary 
leaflets with each of the lateral leaflets with a 
secondary lobe towards the base, so the leaf 
appears 5-lobed, glabrous, terminal leaflet 
narrowly elliptic to elliptic, 3-10 cm long, 0.5- 
3 cm wide, tapering towards the base, apex 
acute, mucronate, margin undulate, toothed 
or occasionally shallowly lobed, with a mid 
rib and 12-16 pair of secondary veins, side 
leaflets 2.5-6 cm long, 4-12 mm wide, with a 
secondary lobe 1.5-3 .6 cm long, c. 6 mm wide 
at the base. Inflorescence axillary, cymose, 
bracteolate; peduncle 1.5-10 cm long, thin, 
wiry, becoming recurved in fruit, bearing 
one, occasionally 2 or 3 flowers; bracteoles 
opposite to sub-opposite, very narrowly 
linear to subulate, 3-5 mm long, 0.7-1 mm 
wide at the base, acute, mucronulate, with 
Austrobaileya 8(1): 55-63 (2009) 
a thin hyaline margin, glabrous, persistent; 
pedicel 7-15 mm long, terete, slightly dilated 
upwards. Outer sepals narrowly ovate-oblong 
to oblong-elliptic, concave, 13-15 mm long, 
5-7 mm wide, apex abruptly acuminate, 
acute, glabrous, thick with a thin hyaline 
margin, smooth, becoming chartaceous in 
fruit; inner sepals ovate to oblong-lanceolate 
or slightly deltoid, concave, 13-15 mm long, 
7-8 mm wide, glabrous. Corolla funnel- 
shaped, 3.5-4 cm long, limb 3-3.5 mm 
diameter, white, slightly greenish at the base 
of the throat, lobed, glabrous; petals 4-4.5 cm 
long, 15-16 mm across at the limb, rounded 
apiculate at the tip, mid-petaline band with 5 
translucent veins. Stamens 5, filaments fused 
for 6-7 mm from the base of the corolla tube, 
free for 9-12 mm, terete above, flattened and 
dilated downwards, hairy on the raised and 
angular fused part, hairs moderate to sparse, 
0.1-0.3 mm long, basal cell cylindrical with a 
blunt terminal cell; anthers oblong to oblong- 
lanceolate, 3.25-3.65 mm long, 1.25-1.4 
mm wide, sagittate, basal lobes 0.4-0.7 mm 
long, apex rounded to emarginate, splitting 
lengthwise at anthesis, but barely twisting. 
Ovary globular, 1.7-2 mm high, on a distinct 
disk, glabrous, 4-celled, 1 ovule per cell, style 
1,12-13 mm long, stigma biglobular, each 1.3 
mm across. Capsule ovoid to globular, c. 8 
mm across; seeds globular-ovoid, c. 5 x 4.75 
mm, dark brown to black, densely pubescent. 
Fig 2. 
Additional specimens examined: Western Australia. 
On E side of Wade Creek, c. 40 km W of Kalumburu 
Mission, May 1996, Mitchell 4373 (BRI, PERTH); Sale 
River, May 1986, Kenneally 9577 (PERTH); Kachana 
Station, about 50 km S of El Questro Homestead, Sep 
1994, Waser & Hengeler 01 (BRI, PERTH). Northern 
Territory. Spirit Hills area, c. 35 km SW of Bullo River 
Homestead, Mar 2009, Cowie 12328 (BRI, DNA). 
Distribution and habitat : Merremia 
kimberleyensis has been recorded from a few 
localities in the northern Kimberley from the 
Sale River and Wade Creek, to southwest of 
Kununurra, extending east into the Northern 
Territory (Map 1). It grows along creek banks, 
usually on sandy soils, often associated with 
sandstone. 
Affinities : Merremia kimberleyensis is 
related to M. quinata. It differs in having three 
leaflets, not five leaflets, in having sub-equal 
