Stylidium turbinatum
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| Stylidium turbinatum | ||||||||||||||||||||
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 S. turbinatum flower.
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| Stylidium turbinatum Lowrie & Kenneally |
Stylidium turbinatum is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Stylidium (family Stylidiaceae). S. turbinatum is endemic to Australia and is found in the northern part of Western Australia in the Kimberley region and near Darwin in the Northern Territory. This species is an erect annual herb that stands 6-15 cm tall. A 2-5 cm long stem bearing scattered leaves terminate in a tuft of 1-2 cm long upper leaves. Several scapes appear from these terminal tufts. The inflorescence is a raceme, which produces pink flowers whose petals are vertically paired. The hypanthium of this species is turbinate and is one of the distinguishing characteristics used to identify it. The sepals form ribs around the hypanthium, giving it a turbine-like appearance. Seeds of S. turbinatum are pale orange and around 0.2 mm long.[1]
S. turbinatum was first formally described by Allen Lowrie and Kevin F. Kenneally in 1997, with most specimens having been collected and examined in the mid-1990s with one early specimen from 1990.[1] S. turbinatum grows in sandy soils at the margins of creeks and floodways and is closely associated with wet season herb fields.[2]
Pollination is achieved through the use of the sensitive "trigger" (a floral column, in which the stamen and style are fused) that snaps forward quickly in response to touch, covering the insect in pollen. All triggerplants can also be described as being protocarnivorous because the glandular trichomes on the scape and flower parts can trap, kill, and digest small insects. It is unknown if this plant engages in nutrient uptake after proteases digest the captured insects, though, if confirmed, this species would be considered truly carnivorous.[3][4][5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Lowrie, A. and Kenneally, K.F. (1997). Eight new species of triggerplant (Stylidium: Stylidiaceae) from northern Australia. Nuytsia, 11(2): 199-217.
- ^ FloraBase, the Western Australia Flora. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia. Accessed online on 09 January 2007.
- ^ Darnowski, Douglas W. (2002). Triggerplants. Australia: Rosenberg Publishing.
- ^ Erickson, Rica. (1961). An introduction to triggerplants. Australian Plants, 1(9): 15-17. (Available online: HTML)
- ^ Darnowski, D.W., Carroll, D.M., Płachno, B., Kabanoff, E., and Cinnamon, E. (2006). Evidence of protocarnivory in triggerplants (Stylidium spp.; Stylidiaceae). Plant Biology, 8(6): 805-812. (Abstract online: HTML)
