Content
Brown's paper was read to the Linnean Society of London in four parts, on 17 January, 7 February, 21 February and 7 March 1809. The Council of the Society approved it for publication on 2 May, but it did not appear in print until 8 March 1810. It was published as a separate offprint under the title On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae, and then appeared in Volume 10, Part 1 of Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, under the title On the Proteaceae of Jussieu. It was illustrated by two Ferdinand Bauer plates, depicting Knightia excelsa and Dryandra formosa (now Banksia formosa).
The paper begins with a digression, presenting Brown's observations on undeveloped Asclepiadaceae flowers as evidence of the importance of studying developing flowers as well as mature ones. It then discusses the biogeography of Proteaceae, noting the southern hemisphere (that is, Gondwanan) distribution of the family, and that "he most numerous genera are also the most widely diffused." Brown then discusses the morphology of the family, including a discussion of pollen shape; according to David Mabberley this represents "the first major study of the subject, palynology".
The systematics section follows, and is most important for the large number of new taxa published therein. 404 species in 38 genera are listed. 18 of the genera are new, and nearly all of these are still upheld. The arrangement of these genera largely follows that introduced by Richard Salisbury in his 1806 The Paradisus Londonensis, although Brown asserts that he arrived at his arrangement independently. Brown does introduce one important concept, however: his division of the Proteaceae into two subfamilies based on whether or not the fruit dehisces. This is still considered the fundamental division in the family, though opinion has varied on whether the defining character should be fruit dehiscence or paired flowers.
Overall, the paper was very well received; according to Mabberley, "he paper was masterful and commanded respect for Brown as a brilliant botanist."
Read more about this topic: On The Natural Order Of Plants Called Proteaceae
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