''Levenhookia pauciflora'', the deceptive stylewort, is a
dicotyledonous
plant
Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...
that belongs to the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
''
Levenhookia
''Levenhookia'', also known as the styleworts, is a genus of ten recognized species in the family Stylidiaceae and is endemic to Australia. The genus is restricted to Western Australia almost exclusively with a few exceptions: '' L. pusilla ...
'' (family
Stylidiaceae
The family Stylidiaceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It consists of five genera with over 240 species, most of which are endemic to Australia and New Zealand. Members of Stylidiaceae are typically grass-like herbs or small shru ...
). It is an
ephemeral
Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...
annual
Annual may refer to:
* Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year
**Yearbook
**Literary annual
* Annual plant
*Annual report
*Annual giving
*Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco
*Annuals (band), ...
that grows from tall with
ovate
Ovate may refer to:
* Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts
*Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe
A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used ...
to suborbicular leaves. Flowers are white and bloom from September to November in its native range. ''L. pauciflora'' is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
to
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...
where it grows in sandy soils in sandstone or granitic areas.
[Paczkowska, Grazyna. (1996)]
''Levenhookia pauciflora'' Benth.
FloraBase
''FloraBase'' is a public access web-based database of the flora of Western Australia. It provides authoritative scientific information on 12,978 taxa, including descriptions, maps, images, conservation status and nomenclatural details. 1,272 alie ...
, Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia. Accessed online: 23 August 2007.[Mildbraed, J. (1908). Stylidiaceae. In: Engler, A. ''Das Pflanzenreich: Regni vegetabilis conspectus''. IV. 278. Leipzig.] The flowers of ''L. pauciflora'' resemble those of ''
Stylidium ecorne
''Stylidium ecorne'' is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus ''Stylidium'' (family Stylidiaceae). It is an annual plant that grows from 5 to 12 cm tall. It has pale or bright pink flowers and occurs in swampy areas.
Taxonomy
...
'' and it has been said that ''S. ecorne'' mimics ''L. pauciflora'' to take advantage of its pollinators.
[Carlquist, S. (1969). Studies in Stylidiaceae: New taxa, field observations, evolutionary tendencies. ''Aliso'', 7(1): 13-64.]
Taxonomy
The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''pauciflora'', describes the plant as 'few flowered' (in
Botanical Latin
Botanical Latin is a technical language based on New Latin, used for descriptions of botanical taxa. Until 2012, International Code of Botanical Nomenclature mandated Botanical Latin to be used for the descriptions of most new taxa. It is still t ...
).
[D. Gledhill ]
References
Endemic flora of Western Australia
Eudicots of Western Australia
pauciflora
Plants described in 1837
{{Australia-asterid-stub