Levenhookia pulcherrima Carlquist, Aliso 7(1): 62-64, figs 118, 119. 1969

Wege, Juliet A., 2020, Styleworts under the microscope: a taxonomic account of Levenhookia (Stylidiaceae), PhytoKeys 151, pp. 1-47 : 1

6. Levenhookia pulcherrima Carlquist, Aliso 7(1): 62-64, figs 118, 119. 1969 Figs 1E , 4F

Type.

Australia. Western Australia: Ongerup - Ravensthorpe Highway [precise locality withheld for conservation reasons], 8 Nov 1967, S. Carlquist 4027 (holotype: RSA 0006328 image!; isotypes: AD 97031212 image!, AD 97133089 image!, B_10_0278639 image!, B_10_0278640 image!, BISH 1005114 image!, BRI-AQ0083605, CANB 195627, CHR 198044 image!, CHR 207972 image!, DAO 000457402 image!, E 00279220 image!, E 00279219 image!, GH 00033479 image!, K 000060049, K 000355298, L 0001769 image!, MEL 2295755, MEL 2295756, MICH 1192769 image!, MO-797445 image!, NCU 00000328 image!, OSC 0001733 image!, PERTH 01000284, PERTH 01000292, RM 0004403 image!, UC n.v., US n.v.).

Description.

Annual herb 3-16 cm high. Glandular hairs 0.15-4 mm long. Stem dark red, often paler distally, simple or with porrect or ascending lateral branches, glandular-hairy. Leaves cauline, scattered, green adaxially, green or reddish abaxially; lamina oblanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, lanceolate, ovate or elliptic, 4-22 mm long including the petiole, 1-5 mm wide, obtuse to subacute, sparsely glandular-hairy near the base on the margins and abaxial surface. Flowers in umbels, corymbs or a more elongated raceme, (1)3-ca. 100 per plant; bracts narrowly oblanceolate to almost linear, 4-20 mm long, glandular-hairy like the leaves; pedicels 0.5-4 mm long, glandular-hairy. Hypanthium depressed globose to globose or ellipsoid, 0.8-1.5 mm long, 0.7-1.3 mm wide, glandular-hairy. Calyx lobes subequal (with the anterior-most a little longer than the rest), 1.8-3.5 mm long, acute, sparsely to moderately glandular-hairy. Corolla bright to pale pink with a white throat (more rarely all white) and prominent dark pink markings on the posterior (upper) lobes; lobes paired vertically, spreading to scarcely recurved, obovate, incised or emarginate, usually with a few glandular hairs abaxially towards the base; anterior (lower) lobes slightly inwardly curved, a little longer and broader than the posterior (upper) lobes, 3.2-5 mm long, 2.5-3.6 mm wide; posterior lobes 3-4.5 mm long, 2.2-3.5 mm wide; tube 4.8-8 mm long, 2.5-5 mm longer than the calyx lobes, creamy white with pink-red longitudinal streaks, sparsely glandular-hairy distally. Labellum ventral, 1.3-2 mm long including a claw 0.2-0.4 mm long; hood purplish-red hood (drying dark red-maroon) with pinkish markings near the cleft, sparsely glandular-hairy abaxially, papillate adaxially along the margins of the cleft, cleft apex with a tuft of yellowish or whitish hairs; basal appendages creamy white, linear-subulate, 0.5-0.6 mm long. Column sheath creamy white, glabrous, with a narrowly triangular, obtuse, posterior lobe to 1 mm high and rounded anterior and lateral lobes 0.5-0.8 mm high, pendulous appendages absent. Column creamy-white, adnate to the anterior side of the corolla tube, 6.5-9 mm long with the top 1.5-2 mm free and angled toward the labellum, faintly constricted below the anthers, glabrous; stigmatic lobes to 1.2 mm long, apparently developing once the column has been exposed, the lowermost arching downwards, the uppermost straight to incurved. Capsule ovoid or globose, 2.5-4 mm long excluding calyx lobes. Seeds ca. 0.5 mm long, 0.3 mm wide.

Diagnostic features.

Levenhookia pulcherrima has an exserted corolla tube that is 4.8-8 mm long, incised or emarginate corolla lobes with dark pink marking near the base of the upper pair, and a shortly-stalked labellum with linear-subulate basal appendages and a small tuft of hairs at the tip.

Phenology.

Flowering from September to November; fruiting recorded from late October and November (and presumably extending into December).

Distribution.

Levenhookia pulcherrima is endemic to south-western Australia (Fig. 4E ), where a small number of populations have been recorded from the central Avon Wheatbelt between Northam, Kellerberrin and Pingelly, and the Esperance Plains, Mallee and Coolgardie bioregions, from near Ravensthorpe to east of Forrestania.

Habitat.

This species grows in sand or loamy sand on floodplains, outwash hill-slopes or adjacent to granite outcropping. Associated vegetation includes Acacia acuminata woodland, Allocasuarina shrubland or scrub, mallee woodland or heath, or low open heath.

Conservation status.

This species is listed as Priority Three under Conservation Codes for Western Australian Flora ( Western Australian Herbarium 1998-) (equivalent to IUCN (2012): Data Deficient). It remains poorly-known despite the discovery of seven new populations through assessment of herbarium collections and recent field surveys. Obtaining population data for this species is difficult since it is most abundant following fire (e.g. J.A. Cochrane 6906 & B. Davis, PERTH; D.J. Edinger 935, PERTH; G.J. Keighery 466, PERTH). A new population was surprisingly discovered in 2014 in a botanically well-surveyed nature reserve in the Avon Wheatbelt (J. Borger & N. Moore MC 9-1, PERTH) growing in unburnt habitat adjacent to experimental patch burns, suggesting that the smoke from these fires may have triggered germination. It is not known how long the soil seed bank remains viable and, as such, inappropriate fire regimes may represent a threat to this species.

Etymology.

From the Latin pulcherrimus (prettiest).

Vernacular name.

Beautiful Stylewort.

Notes.

Several collections of L. pulcherrima were previously misidentified as L. leptantha , a species with a similarly long corolla tube. Pressed material of L. pulcherrima can be separated from L. leptantha by its mostly longer calyx lobes (1.8-3.5 mm cf. 0.8-2 mm) and morphologically distinct labellum, which has linear-subulate basal appendages and an apical tuft of hairs (cf. with rounded basal appendages and a small, glabrous apical appendage). Levenhookia pulcherrima lacks the succulent leaves and bracts that characterise L. leptantha and the posterior side of its column sheath has a prominent triangular lobe (cf. sheath connate with the posterior corolla lobes to form a smooth, yellow pad).

A small, fast-moving, solitary native bee was observed gleaning pollen at J.A. Wege 1937.

Illustrations.

B.J. Grieve & W.E. Blackall, How to know W. Austral. wildfl. 4: 766, no. 4. 1982 [anterior corolla lobes mislabelled as "posterior petals" and vice versa].

Selected specimens examined.

Australia. Western Australia: [localities obfuscated for conservation reasons] W of Ravensthorpe, 11 Oct 1974, S. Carlquist 6000 (PERTH); Phillips River, 27 Nov 2007, J.A. Cochrane & B. Davis JAC 6906 (PERTH); Northam, Oct 1973, G.J. Keighery 73.10/10 (PERTH); E of Lake King on Norseman Track, 27 Oct 1975, G.J. Keighery 466 (PERTH); Phillips River, 27 Oct 1997, B.J. Lepschi & B.A. Fuhrer BJL 3755 (CANB, MEL, PERTH); ENE of Lake King, 14 Nov 1979, K.R. Newbey 6533 (PERTH); SE of Tammin, 19 Sep 2014, J.A. Wege 1937 (MEL, PERTH); towards Ravensthorpe, 26 Oct 1968, J.W. Wrigley s.n. (CANB).

Figures

Figure 1. Levenhookia is a genus of annual herbs endemic to Australia A distribution in temperate and semi-arid regions of Australia, scale bar 1000 km B L. leptantha (J. A. Wege 2063) C L. pusilla (J. A. Wege 1749 & W. S. Armbruster) D L. octomaculata (J. A. Wege 2074) E L. pulcherrima (J. A. Wege 1937). Photos by J. A. Wege.

Figure 4. Comparative distributions and floral morphologies A, B Levenhookia dubia, with a widespread distribution across southern Australia and flowers with acute calyx lobes and a simple, sessile labellum (K. R. Thiele 3360) C, D L. leptantha, a widespread Western Australian endemic with an exserted corolla tube and fleshy bracts (J. A. Wege 1828) E, F L. pulcherrima, a poorly-known Western Australian endemic with an exserted corolla tube and distinctive corolla lobe shape and markings (J. A. Wege 1937). Photos by K. R. Thiele (B, D) and J. A. Wege (F). Scale bar on maps 1000 km.