Classification: How it is related to others

Meaning of the name:
    The genus Macadamia got its name from Dr. Ferdinand Mueller who named it after his friend Dr. John Macadam.  The species name tetraphylla is a combination of two Greek words.  Tetra meaning four, and phylla meaning leaf.  As you will see later, this name is very fitting because the leaves in Macadamia tetraphylla occur in groups of four.  It received its common name because it originated in Australia.  In addition, it has either a smooth or rough shell covering for the nut. 

Below is the classification of Macadamia tetraphylla. 
Lineage-
    Domain: Eukarya
              Supergroup: Archaeplastida
                                Kingdom: Viridiplantae
                                            Phylum: Streptophyta
                                                      Subphylum: Streptophytina
                                                                      Class: Magnoliopsida
                                                                            Order: Proteales
                                                                                   Family: Proteaceae
                                                                                           Genus: Macadamia
                                                                                                   Species: Macadamia tetraphylla

Eukarya: One of three domains consisting of eukaryotic cells, which are organisms that have a nucleus and discreet organelles.
Archaeplastida: One of five supergroups that consists of organisms with plastids that are surrounded by two membranes. 
Viridiplantae: Kingdom comprised of all living or extinct plants.  Plants are defined as multicellular organisms that typically produce their own food through photosynthesis. 
Streptophyta:  A phylum with all land plants as well as some green algae (which are protists).
Streptophytina: A subdivision of Streptophyta which contains the classes Charophyceae and Embryophyceae. 
Magnoliopsida: A class consisting of all flowering plants.  Flowering plants are defined as plants that produce a covered seed, a flower, and a fruit.  This fruit, however, is not always what we generally think of as fruit.  It is, in fact, the food source for the seed. 
Proteales: Order whose members are dicotyledonous flowering plants.  These type of flowers have some particular traits such as: two cotyledons during growth, flowers in multiples of 4 or 5, major leaf veins reticulated. 
Proteaceae: A family of Australian and South African shrubs and trees with leathery leaves and generally clustered, tetramerous flowers.
Macadamia: Genus whose members are Australian, ornamental evergreens.  Ornamental means plants that are generally decorative and used in gardening or landscapes.
Macadamia tetraphylla: An ornamental evergreen tree that produces a rough-shelled, edible nut.  The grayish-green nut grows in pairs around a flower spike, and has a husky outer coving called a pericarp.  They can grow 60 feet tall and roughly 50 feet wide.  They produce shiny, leathery leaves that are about 7-12 inches long, which occur in groups of four.  This species of Macadamia has fragrant pink flowers.

     The phylogenetic tree above is showing how the Macadamia is sorted within the Family Proteaceae.  Listed are some of the more common genus groups within Proteaceae.  From there it lists the species of Macadamia, which there are around 8 determined species.
    The phylogenetic tree at the bottom is showing where the Kingdom Plantae is, relative to every other eukaryote.  Both of these trees are claudistic trees.  They were determined through molecular and genetic biology.  In these trees, past ancestors are taken into account when determining if groups of organisms are related to on another.

 

 

                                                            Continue on to Habitat!