Romnalda
Romnalda is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Lomandroideae. 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 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 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.