Stylidium spathulatum

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Stylidium spathulatum
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Stylidiaceae
Genus: Stylidium
Subgenus: Stylidium subg. Tolypangium
Section: Stylidium sect. Saxifragoidea
Species:
S. spathulatum
Binomial name
Stylidium spathulatum
R.Br. 1810
Ferdinand Bauer's sketch of the species Stylidium spathulatum - Bauer sketches.jpg
Ferdinand Bauer's sketch of the species

Stylidium spathulatum is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Stylidium (family Stylidiaceae). The species is informally named the creamy triggerplant for the colour of its flowers.

The flowers are yellowish-white and appear between October and January. These are presented on a scape, 0.05 to 0.5 metres above the ground, which is glandular at the base and glabrous on the upper parts. The leaves are spathulate, or inversely lance-shaped, tufted and spread out just above ground level. It is found on dunes, granite outcrops, swamps and other moist areas, amongst Eucalypts, heathland or shrubs.

It is found in the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia. [1] The species was first described by Robert Brown in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae of 1810, based on a collection he made in his visit to King George Sound in 1801. This was sketched and annotated for later colouring by the botanical illustrator Ferdinand Bauer, Brown's companion on HMS Investigator. [2] The lectotype's locality is noted as Princess Royal Harbour, King George Sound. [3]

See also

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Ferdinand Bauer

Ferdinand Lucas Bauer was an Austrian botanical illustrator who travelled on Matthew Flinders' expedition to Australia.

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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.

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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.

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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.

References

  1. "Stylidium spathulatum". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  2. Pignatti-Wikus, Erika; Riedl-Dorn, Christa; Mabberley, David J. "Ferdinand Bauer's field drawings of endemic Western Australian plants made at King George Sound and Lucky Bay, December 1801 - January 1802" (PDF). Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei s. 9, v. 11:69-109. Botanica. Retrieved 17 November 2008.
  3. "Stylidium spathulatum R.Br". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.