''Stylidium laricifolium'', commonly known as giant trigger-plant, larch-leaf or tree triggerplant,Darnowski, Douglas W. (2002). ''Triggerplants''. Australia: Rosenberg Publishing or is a species of flowering plant in the 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 ...

and 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 eastern Australia. It is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

subshrub with many linear leaves crowded along its few stems, the flowers white to pale pink and arranged in a single main

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is ...

and smaller

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the sh ...

Description

''Stylidium laricifolium'' is a perennial subshrub with few stems, that typically grows to a height of . The leaves are linear, long, about wide and crowded along the stems. The flowering stems are high, with between ten and thirty flowers arranged in a single main panicle and several smaller racemes. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s are narrow lance-shaped, long and joined at the base forming a tube longer than the lobes. The

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name * Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown * ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...

is white to pale pink, about wide with two pairs of oblong petals. The

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

is long with a cushion-like stigma and the

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the bod ...

is long and covered with glandular hairs. Flowering occurs from September to December and the fruit is an oblong capsule long.

Taxonomy

''Stylidium laricifolium'' was first formally described in 1806 by Louis Claude Richard in

Christiaan Hendrik Persoon Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (1 February 1761 – 16 November 1836) was a German mycologist who made additions to Linnaeus' mushroom taxonomy. Early life Persoon was born in South Africa at the Cape of Good Hope, the third child of an immi ...

's book ''Synopsis plantarum''. 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 ...

''laricifolium'' refers to the long, narrow leaves, which resemble the leaf form of plants in the ''

Larix Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains furth ...

'' genus. The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

specimen was probably collected during Nicholas Baudin's expedition to Australia, which included a visit to

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman ...

in 1802.

Distribution and habitat

Giant trigger-plant grows in forest in rocky places from south-east Queensland, along the coast and tablelands of New South Wales to eastern Victoria.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7629561 Asterales of Australia Carnivorous plants of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) laricifolium

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution and habitat

See also

References