Which genus of plants is endemic to Australia, Retama or Baeckea?
Retama Retama is a genus of flowering bushes in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the broom tribe, Genisteae. "Retama" broom bushes are found natively in North Africa, the Levant and some parts of southern Europe. "Retama raetam" and "Retama monosperma" have white flowers, while "Retama sphaerocarpa" has yellow flowers. It remains an open question in taxonomy whether the members of the "Retama" genus should be incorporated into the genus "Genista" (see Genisteae). The name traces itself to the Hebrew "רותם (Pronounced Rotem)"
Flora of Australia The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 20,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, and below the family level has a highly endemic angiosperm flora whose diversity was shaped by the effects of continental drift and climate change since the Cretaceous. Prominent features of the Australian flora are adaptations to aridity and fire which include scleromorphy and serotiny. These adaptations are common in species from the large and well-known families Proteaceae ("Banksia"), Myrtaceae ("Eucalyptus" - gum trees), and Fabaceae ("Acacia" - wattle).