Open Access

Mike Macphail, Mary Casey

• Fossil spores preserved on historical archaeological sites at Parramatta and Richmond indicate that two or more species of the quillwort genus Isoetes (family Isoetaceae) were growing along rivers on the Cumberland Plain, west of Sydney, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Perispore ornamentation indicates the parent plants were related to Isoetes drummondii A.Braun and Isoetes muelleri A.Braun: A possible third species produced microspores that are similar to, but much larger than, the spores produced by modern Isoetes muelleri. Apart from one dubious record, Isoetes has not been found in the Sydney flora or on the New South Wales Central Coast and Central Tablelands botanical subdivisions, but does occur in the Central Western Slopes, and botanical subdivisions to the north of Sydney (North Coast, Northern Tablelands) and south (Southern Tablelands, South-Western Slopes, South-Western Plains), as well as in other States. Our data indicate the present day disjunct distribution of Isoetes in New South Wales is most likely to be due to European settlement. The ability of quillworts to survive moderate levels of disturbance during the early Colonial period raises the possibility that remnant populations may still survive in protected areas on the Cumberland Plain.