''Stylidium tenerum'', the swamp triggerplant, 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 ...

'' Stylidium'' (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 ...

) that was described by

Curt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel (3 August 1766 – 15 March 1833) was a German botanist and physician who published an influential multivolume history of medicine, ''Versuch einer pragmatischen Geschichte der Arzneikunde'' (1792–99 in four vo ...

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 Olof Peter Swartz (21 September 1760 – 19 September 1818) was a Swedish botanist and taxonomist. He is best known for his taxonomic work and studies into pteridophytes. Biography Olof Swartz attended the University of Uppsala where he ...

. To add to the confusion,

Rica Erickson Frederica Lucy "Rica" Erickson , née Sandilands, (10 August 1908 – 8 September 2009) was an Australian naturalist, botanical artist, historian, author and teacher. Without any formal scientific training, she wrote extensively on botany and ...

had described and illustrated this taxon in 1958 under the name '' S. uliginosum'', another currently accepted name for a related species.Bean, A.R. (2000). A revision of ''Stylidium'' subg. ''Andersonia'' (R.Br. ex G.Don) Mildbr. (Stylidiaceae). ''Austrobaileya'' 5(4): 589-649. ''S. tenerum'' is an erect annual plant that grows from 3 to 20 cm tall.

Obovate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...

or orbicular leaves, about 4-10 per plant, form basal rosettes. The leaves are generally 4–17.5 mm long and 3–8 mm wide. This species generally has one to seven

scapes Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatta ...

and 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 3–20 cm long. Flowers are white. ''S. tenerum'' has a wide distribution ranging from eastern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and extreme northeastern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

up to the

Wessel Islands The Wessel Islands is a group of uninhabited islands in the Northern Territory of Australia. They extend in a more or less straight line from Buckingham Bay and the Napier Peninsula of Arnhem Land, and Elcho Island, to the northeast. Marchin ...

of 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 ...

in Australia and has even been located in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Its typical habitats include the sandy soils of creekbanks, seepage areas, and coastal lowlands in open ''

Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...

'' communities. It flowers in the southern hemisphere from April to October.

References

Carnivorous plants of Australia Carnivorous plants of Asia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Papua New Guinea tenerum Asterales of Australia {{Australia-asterid-stub

See also

References