Levenhookia stipitata (Benth.) F.Muell. ex Benth., Fl. Austral. 4: 36. 1868

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

10. Levenhookia stipitata (Benth.) F.Muell. ex Benth., Fl. Austral. 4: 36. 1868 Figs 2A , 7B

Stylidium stipitatum Benth., in S.F.L. Endlicher, E. Fenzl, G. Bentham & H.W. Schott, Enum. Pl.: 72. 1837.

Coleostylis umbellata Sond. in J.G.C. Lehmann, Pl. Preiss. 1(3): 391. 1845, nom. illeg. [ Stylidium stipitatum cited in synonymy]

Leewenhoekia stipitata (Benth.) F.Muell., Fragm. 4(27): 94. 1864, nom. inval., nom. prov.

Leewenhoekia stipitata , orth. var.: F. von Mueller, Syst. Census Austral. Pl.: 86. 1882.

Type.

Australia. Western Australia: Swan River, [1833] K. von Hügel s.n. (lectotype, here designated: W 0047173, all Levenhookia material [i.e. excluding the individual of Centrolepis ]).

Description.

Annual herb 2-18 cm high. Glandular hairs 0.1-0.5 mm long. Stem dark red to reddish brown, sometimes paler or greenish distally, simple or branched to varying degrees with porrect or ascending lateral branches, glandular-hairy. Leaves cauline, scattered, green (occasionally tinged red) or red-purple, lamina narrowly oblanceolate to oblanceolate, elliptic or ovate, 2.5-12 mm long including the petiole, 0.5-3(-4.5) mm wide, subacute to acute or obtuse, glandular-hairy on the abaxial surface and margins. Flowers in umbels, corymbs or short racemes, 1-ca. 150 per plant; bracts narrowly oblanceolate to oblanceolate, elliptic or linear, 2-10 mm long, glandular-hairy like the leaves; pedicels 3-18 mm long, glandular-hairy. Hypanthium depressed globose, globose or ellipsoid, 0.7-1.5 mm long, 0.7-1.8 mm wide, glandular-hairy. Calyx lobes ± equal or with the anterior pair scarcely longer than the rest, 1.3-2.3 mm long, acute, moderately to sparsely glandular-hairy. Corolla bright to pale pink (rarely white) with a white throat, sometimes with two, elongated red-pink markings towards the base of each lobe near the margins; lobes evenly arranged or with the upper (posterior) ones ± paired vertically, sometimes weakly recurved, obovate or elliptic with a slender claw, rounded, scarcely apiculate or bluntly pointed, glabrous or sometimes with sparse glandular hairs abaxially; anterior lobes equal to or slightly shorter and narrower than the posterior pair, 2.5-4.5 mm long, 1.6-2.8 mm wide; posterior lobes 2.7-4.5 mm long, 1.7-3.3 mm wide; tube creamy white, 0.2-0.5 mm long, obscured by the calyx lobes, glabrous. Labellum ventral, 2-3.5 mm long including a 0.9-1.5 mm long claw; hood yellow or whitish with dark red-maroon markings, sparsely glandular-hairy abaxially, scarcely papillate adaxially along the margins, papillate abaxially with a short, blunt, dark pink-red or sometimes yellow appendage at the cleft apex; basal appendages yellowish or white, rounded, 0.4-0.6 mm long. Column sheath white or yellowish, glabrous, 1.3-2.5 mm high on the posterior side with a thickened rim and broad anterior cleft, 3 pendulous appendages present on the inner surface towards the throat. Column creamy white, free, erect, slightly thickened distally, 2-4 mm long; stigmatic lobes to ca. 1 mm long, incurved, the lower-most developing while the column is hooded, the uppermost developing later. Capsule globose or ovoid, 1-2.3 mm long excluding calyx lobes. Seeds 0.4-0.5 mm long, 0.25-0.3 mm wide.

Diagnostic features.

Levenhookia stipitata has glandular-hairy stems, bracts and calyx lobes, long pedicels (3-18 mm), a short corolla tube (obscured by the calyx lobes), a small, blunt, papillate appendage at the tip of the labellum, and a prominent column sheath (more than half the length of column). The corolla lobes may have a pair of elongated markings near the base (see notes below).

Phenology.

Flowering from September to December; fruits have been collected from late October to December.

Distribution.

This species is widespread in Western Australia (Fig. 7A ), occurring in all bioregions within the South-West Province as well as the adjacent Yalgoo and Coolgardie bioregions. It has a more restricted distribution in South Australia where it is mostly confined to the Eyre Peninsula between Pinkawillinie Conservation Park and Point Boston, with an outlying record from the central Yorke Peninsula.

Habitat.

Levenhookia stipitata grows in sand, sandy loam or clayey sand over limestone or laterite, more rarely in association with granite outcropping, usually on plains and hill-slopes but sometimes in depressions or seasonally damp habitats. Associated vegetation is varied and includes heathland, woodland, Eucalyptus marginata and Corymbia calophylla forest, Banksia , E. wandoo or E. cladocalyx woodland, open mallee woodland or shrubland, and Acacia or Melaleuca tall shrubland.

Conservation status.

This common species is not considered to be under threat ( IUCN (2012): Least Concern); however, in South Australia, it is listed as Rare (Schedule 9) under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 ( Government of South Australia 2018).

Etymology.

From the Latin stipitatus (stipitate, provided with a stipe or little stalk), presumably with reference to the corolla segments.

Vernacular name.

Common Stylewort ( Erickson 1958).

Typification.

The only Hügel specimen that is known is held at Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (W 0047173) and bears annotations by Bentham (as ' Stylidium stipitatum '), Sonder (as ' Coleostylis umbellulata ') and Mildbraed (as ' Levenhookia stipitata '). The collection is mixed, comprising four individuals of L. stipitata (and associated fragments in the attached packets) and a single individual of Centrolepis aristata (R.Br.) Poir. ( Centrolepidaceae ) mounted with the Levenhookia in the centre of the sheet. All Levenhookia material on this sheet is designated herein as the lectotype.

Notes.

Corolla markings are often absent in L. stipitata ; however, two discrete markings at the base of each lobe can be consistently present in populations in Western Australia and South Australia (e.g. D.E. Murfet 2270 & R.L. Taplin (AD), D.E. Murfet 4494 & A. Lowrie (AD), J.A. Wege 1562 & B.P. Miller (PERTH), J.A. Wege 1873 (PERTH: Fig. 7B , inset), J.A. Wege 2068 (PERTH)) or variably present within a population (e.g. J.A. Wege 777, J.A. Wege 2077). A comparison with L. octomaculata , an allied species named for its corolla markings, is provided under the notes for that species.

Illustrations.

L. Diels & E. Pritzel, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 35: 598, fig. 67 A-C. 1905 [reproduced by J. Mildbraed in H.G.A. Engler, Pflanzenr. 35: 29, fig. 10A-C. 1908]; R. Erickson, Triggerplants 201, Pl. 57, No. 2 and 208, Pl. 58, Nos. 8-14. 1958; B.J. Grieve & W.E. Blackall, How to know W. Austral. wildfl. 4: 766, no. 6. 1982; J. Wheeler, N. Marchant & M. Lewington, Fl. South West 2: 903. 2002.

Selected specimens examined.

Australia. Western Australia: Mt Merivale, 20 km E of Esperance, 25 Oct 1995, B. Archer 168 (MEL); Brixton Street Wetlands, Kenwick, 10 Nov 2011, K.L. Brown 888 & G. Paczkowska (PERTH); Darling Range escarpment, W of Walyunga Reserve, 17 Dec 1971, N.T. Burbidge 7882 (CANB); Dryandra State Forest, NE of Congelin, at the sigma bend of Patonga Rd, 24 Oct 1991, W. Greuter 23183 (PERTH); Sheepwash State Forest, E boundary at 'The Pass’, 13 Dec 1998, B.G. Hammersley 2137 (PERTH); Reserve 23229/1255, Brookton Hwy, Armadale, 5 km SE of Kinsella Rd, 11 Dec 2004, F. Hort, J. Hort & B. Hort 2451 (PERTH); Wongamine Nature Reserve, ca. 13 km NE of Toodyay, 7 Oct 1995, T.R. Lally & B.J. Lepschi 775 (PERTH); Sukey Hill, 3.5 km E of Cranbrook, 13 Nov 1995, T.R. Lally & B.J. Lepschi 880 (PERTH); 1.85 km along Park Rd from Great Eastern Hwy, John Forrest National Park, 14 Nov 1995, J.A. Wege 120 (PERTH); 20 m NE along gravel track off Del Park Rd, 6.7 km from South Western Hwy, 29 Nov 1995, J.A. Wege 156 & P. French (PERTH); ca. 900 m from Eagle Bay settlement on Meelup Beach Rd, 8 Nov 2002, J.A. Wege 777 (PERTH); 1.6 km E on Cadda Rd from Brand Hwy, Badgingarra National Park, J.A. Wege 1688 & W.S. Armbruster, 20 Oct 2009 (PERTH); ca. 1.7 km on Canning Road from Pickering Brook Road, Korung National Park, 12 Nov 2003, J.A. Wege 1100 (PERTH); Qualen Rd, just W of Kent Rd, Wandoo National Park, 29 Nov 2008, J.A. Wege & B.P. Miller JAW 1562 (PERTH); 6.4 km W of Brand Hwy on Bibby Rd, SW of Badgingarra, 20 Oct 2011, J.A. Wege 1873 (PERTH); 4.7 km E of Brand Hwy on Wanamal West Rd, Boonanarring Nature Reserve, 20 Oct 2011, J.A. Wege 1874 (CANB, MEL, PERTH); 6.4 km E of Sundalara Rd on Tomkins Rd, NE of Eneabba, 30 Oct 2018, J.A. Wege 2077 (PERTH); South Australia: Wanilla, some 25 km NW of Port Lincoln, 8 Nov 1968, C.R. Alcock 2542 (AD, MEL); Granite outcrop NW of Lienerts/Woolford Track in Pinkawillinie C[onservation] P[ark], 3 Nov 2009, T.S. Te 859 & T.S. Croft (AD); Site BS162-MIN01101, Patchid 20131 [9.1 km direct ENE of Roger Corner, Yorke Peninsula], 13 Oct 2004, L.M.B. Heard & N.R. Neagle BS162-1754 (AD); Verran Tanks Conservation Park, 10 Oct 1991, D.E. Murfet 1299b (AD); Murrunatta Conservation Park, 15 Oct 1995, D.E. Murfet & R.L. Taplin 2270 (AD).

Figures

Figure 2. Labellum and column movement in Levenhookia. Black arrow = labellum hooded over column; white arrow = labellum ' triggered' to release column; yellow arrow = labellum repositioned following column release; blue arrow = column position immediately following release from labellum A L. stipitata (unvouchered, Augusta area, Western Australia) B L. aestiva (J. A. Wege 2090) C-E L. leptantha (J. A. Wege 2063), with labellum enclosing the column (C), triggered to release the column which moves to the opposite side of the flower (D) and subsequently repositioned (E) with the stigmatic lobes developed F L. aestiva (J. A. Wege 2090), labellum triggered with column momentum stopped by the sheath at the base of the corolla lobes G, H L. pauciflora (at J. A. Wege 1071 & C. Wilkins): note the unusual, distally-angled column and brush-tipped labellum I L. murfetii (J. A. Wege 2060): note the dorsal position of the labellum; J, K L. dubia, with the labellum opening (but not otherwise moving) to release the column (K). Photos by R. W. Davis (A, B) and J. A. Wege (C-K).

Figure 7. Comparative distributions and floral morphologies A, B L. stipitata, with a disjunct distribution in Western Australia and South Australia and flowers on long pedicels and with a prominent column sheath (J. A. Wege 1874). Inset showing coloured markings at the base of the corolla lobes that have been recorded for many populations (J. A. Wege 1873) C, D L. octomaculata, a Western Australian endemic with prominent corolla markings and a densely papillate labellum (J. A. Wege 2074) E, F L. chippendalei, widespread in arid areas of Western Australia and the Northern Territory, with the incised apical labellum appendage visible in the lower right flower (N. Gibson 6559, S. van Leeuwen, M. A. Langley & K. Brown). Photos by J. A. Wege (B, D) and K. Brown (F). Scale bar on maps 1000 km.