Romnalda

Romnalda is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Lomandroideae. (They have also been placed in the Xanthorrhoeaceae.) As of December 2013[update] four formally named species are known and accepted by botanical science.

The name Romnalda is an anagram of Lomandra, a related though more common genus of hard–leaved lily-like plants. The genus Romnalda differs from Lomandra in growing exclusively in rainforests and having sparsely branched inflorescences with no spines.

Plants have strap-like leaves and grow up to one metre (3 feet) tall often with a trunk and stilt roots reminiscent of a miniature Pandanus. Species of Romnalda grow naturally in Queensland and Papua New Guinea.

Species

• R. grallata – restricted to cloud forests on a few misty peaks in the Daintree Rainforest, Wet Tropics region, north-eastern Queensland.
• R. ophiopogonoides, synonym: Romnalda sp. Cooper Creek (P.I.Forster+ PIF4402) Qld Herbarium – only found in a few isolated locations around Cooper Creek, Wet Tropics region, north-eastern Queensland; and has obtained the Queensland government's official conservation status listing of "vulnerable" species.
• R. papuana – only found in a handful of locations in Papua New Guinea including the island of New Britain.
• R. strobilacea – restricted to basaltic soils north of Brisbane in South East Queensland, Australia; and has obtained the Australian national and Queensland governments' official conservation status listings of "vulnerable" species.

• Henderson, R. J. F. (1986).In: George, A. S. (ed.) Flora of Australia, Vol. 46. Canberra: Australian Government Publishment Service, pp. 91–92