''Stylidium tenerrimum'' is a species of 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 ...

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 ...

. It is an erect annual plant that grows from 4 to 30 cm tall.

Linear Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...

, oblanceolate, or deltate leaves, about 5-24 per plant, are scattered along the stems. The leaves are generally 1.2-4.8 mm long and 0.3-0.8 mm wide. This species lacks a scape but has cymose

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

s that are 4–11 cm long. Flowers are white and red. ''S. tenerrimum'' is found around

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

of Australia and the Victoria River, though it hasn't been recollected there since the type location was chosen. Its typical habitat is sandy soils that remain moist, associated with grasses and sedges. It flowers in the southern hemisphere from April to August. ''S. tenerrimum'' is most closely related to '' S. alsinoides'', though it differs by its asymmetrical petals. In his revision of the subgenus ''Andersonia'' in 2000, A.R. Bean placed ''S. evolutum'' into

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

and noted that the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

of ''S. mitrasacmoides'' was not located and thus the application of this synonym is not certain. Tony Bean assessed this species'

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservatio ...

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessarily ...

in 2000.Bean, A.R. (2000). A revision of ''Stylidium'' subg. ''Andersonia'' (R.Br. ex G.Don) Mildbr. (Stylidiaceae). ''Austrobaileya'' 5(4): 589-649.

References

Carnivorous plants of Australia Flora of the Northern Territory tenerrimum Plants described in 1859 Asterales of Australia Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller {{Australia-asterid-stub

See also

References