Stylidium fissilobum
Encyclopedia
Stylidium fissilobum is a dicotyledon
Dicotyledon
The dicotyledons, also known as dicots, are a group of flowering plants whose seed typically has two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. There are around 199,350 species within this group...

ous plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 that belongs to the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Stylidium (family Stylidiaceae
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 shrubs and can be perennials or annuals...

). It is an annual plant
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...

 that grows from 5 to 50 cm tall. Linear
Leaf shape
In botany, leaf shape is characterised with the following terms :* Acicular : Slender and pointed, needle-like* Acuminate : Tapering to a long point...

 or deltate leaves, about 4-34 per plant, are scattered along the elongate, glabrous stem. The leaves are generally 1–6 mm long and 0.3-0.7 mm wide. Petioles
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...

 and scapes
Scape (botany)
In botany, scapes are leafless flowering stems that rise from the ground. Scapes can have a single flower or many flowers, depending on the species....

 are absent. Inflorescence
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

s are 3–18 cm long. Flowers are pink, white, or mauve and bloom from March to July in the southern hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

. S. fissilobums wide distribution ranges across northern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 from the western Kimberley region and Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

 eastward as far as Mount Surprise
Mount Surprise, Queensland
Mount Surprise is a town in the Gulf Savannah, Far North Queensland, Australia. The town is located in the Shire of Etheridge Local Government Area, on the Gulf Developmental Road, north west of the state capital, Brisbane and west of the regional centre of Cairns...

 in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

. Its habitat is recorded as being wet sands at swamp edges in association with grasslands and sedgelands. Due to its weak stem, this species often threads its way through supporting branches and leaves of the dense grass and sedge cover. S. fissilobum is most closely related to S. aquaticum
Stylidium aquaticum
Stylidium aquaticum is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Stylidium . The specific epithet aquaticum refers to this species' typical habitat. It is an annual plant that grows from 18 to 30 cm tall. Linear leaves, about 20-100 per plant, are scattered along the elongate, glabrous...

 and S. oviflorum
Stylidium oviflorum
Stylidium oviflorum is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Stylidium . The specific epithet oviflorum comes from the Latin ovi meaning egg and florus meaning flower, which refers to this species flower colouration that resembles a fried egg with bright yellow and pure white colours...

. Its conservation status
Conservation status
The conservation status of a group of organisms indicates whether the group is still extant and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future...

 has been assessed as data deficient
Data Deficient
Data Deficient is a category applied by the IUCN, other agencies, and individuals to a species when the available information is not sufficient for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made...

.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK