Stylidium is a genus of dicotyledonous plants that belong to the family Stylidiaceae. The genus name Stylidium is derived from the Greek στύλος or stylos, which refers to the distinctive reproductive structure that its flowers possess. Pollination is achieved through the use of the sensitive "trigger", which comprises the male and female reproductive organs fused into a floral column that snaps forward quickly in response to touch, harmlessly covering the insect in pollen. Most of the approximately 300 species are only found in Australia, making it the fifth largest genus in that country. Triggerplants are considered to be protocarnivorous or carnivorous because the glandular trichomes that cover the scape and flower can trap, kill, and digest small insects with protease enzymes produced by the plant. Recent research has raised questions as to the status of protocarnivory within Stylidium.
Stylidium alsinoides is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Stylidiaceae. It is an erect annual plant that grows from 18 to 30 cm tall. Obovate or elliptical leaves, about 20–100 per plant, are scattered along the elongate, glabrous stems. The leaves are generally 5.5–14 mm (0.22–0.55 in) long and 3–8 mm (0.12–0.31 in) wide. The bracts on the inflorescence can be as large as leaves and may be hard to distinguish them except for their growth habit: the leaves are alternate whereas the bracts are opposite.
Allen Lowrie was a Western Australian botanist. He was recognised for his expertise on the genera Drosera and Stylidium.
Stylidium adnatum, commonly known as the common beaked triggerplant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Stylidiaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia.
Stylidium graminifolium, the grass triggerplant, is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Stylidium. This species used to belong to the Stylidium graminifolium complex, but the name was conserved for this single species when two others were split from the complex and introduced as new species in 2001. S. graminifolium is endemic to Australia and is the Stylidium species with the widest distribution throughout Australia. It is a perennial plant with grass-like leaves and is easily cultivated. It has been considered to be a carnivorous or protocarnivorous plant because it possesses glandular trichomes underneath the flowers that can trap and digest prey.
Stylidium tenerum, the swamp triggerplant, is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Stylidium that was described by Curt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel in 1826. Robert Brown had described this species in 1810 under the name S. tenellum, a name which had already been used for another species in 1805 by Olof Swartz. To add to the confusion, Rica Erickson had described and illustrated this taxon in 1958 under the name S. uliginosum, another currently accepted name for a related species.
Stylidium androsaceum is a dicotyledonous species of plant in the family Stylidiaceae. It is native to subtropical regions of Australia.
Stylidium aceratum is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Stylidium. It occurs within the south west region of Western Australia
Stylidium perpusillum, the tiny triggerplant, is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Stylidium, that occurs in south west Western Australia.
Stylidium weeliwolli is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Stylidium. It occurs in the North West of Western Australia
Stylidium imbricatum, the tile-leaved triggerplant, is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Stylidium. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows from 12 to 50 cm tall and has divided stems covered with tile-like leaves that are arranged in a spiral formation around the stem. The ovate-elliptic leaves are basifixed and held closely against the stems. The leaves are around 1.5-1.8 mm long and 0.6-0.8 mm wide. Terminal inflorescences are racemose or spike-like and produce flowers that are reddish violet with laterally-paired lobes and bloom from April to May in their native range. S. imbricatum is only known from south-western Western Australia in Stirling Range National Park and Porongurup National Park south-east to Cheynes Beach. Its habitat is recorded as being sandy or laterite soils in swampy areas, rocky slopes, or heathland. S. imbricatum is distinct within its subgenus because it possesses obovate sepals. Its conservation status has been assessed as secure.
Stylidium rupestre is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Stylidium, a species sometimes named as the rock triggerplant. It is found in Southwest Australia. The species was first described by Otto Wilhelm Sonder.
Stylidium spathulatum is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Stylidium. The species is informally named the creamy triggerplant for the colour of its flowers.
Drosera zigzagia is an erect perennial tuberous species in the carnivorous plant genus Drosera. It is endemic to Western Australia and is found on the margins of salt lakes in brown sandy loam, often associated with D. salina, Stylidium insensitivum, S. pulviniforme, Levenhookia leptantha, and Frankenia species. Drosera zigzagia produces small, solitary carnivorous leaves that alternate along a zigzag stem, which can be 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in) high. Yellow flowers are borne on 4–9-flowered inflorescences that bloom from August to September.
Stylidium nymphaeum is a climbing triggerplant found along the southern coast of Southwest Australia. The species uses the curved tips of its leaves to clamber over nearby plants, attaining a height between 1.4 and 2.5 metres. These leaves are long and slender, between 15 and 75 millimetres in length and 0.8 to 2 millimetres in width, are hairless, and have an entire margin. The scape is also hairless. The flowers are pink to purple, appearing from December or January to May.
Stylidium glaucum, the grey triggerplant, is a herbaceous plant found along the southern coast of Southwest Australia, West of Albany. The plant attains a height between 0.15 and 0.65 metres. The leaves are lanceolate in form, becoming pointed at the base, and moderately acute at the tip. These are between 20 and 70 millimetres in length and 2 to 9 millimetres in width, are hairless, and have an entire margin. The trivial name of the species, glaucum, refers to the greyish colour of the leaves. The scape is hairless, supporting a racemose arrangement of white or pink flowers that appear from January to May.
Stylidium humphreysii is a species of trigger plant endemic to desert regions of Western Australia. American botanist Sherwin Carlquist named the species after West Australian amateur botanist Fred Humphreys.
Stylidium divaricatum, known by the vernacular name daddy-long-legs, is a species in the genus Stylidium that is endemic to Western Australia.
Malcolm Eric Trudgen is a West Australian botanist. He has published some 105 botanical names. He currently runs his own consulting company, ME Trudgen and Associates.
