Levenhookia dubia
Encyclopedia
Levenhookia dubia, the hairy stylewort, 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...

 Levenhookia
Levenhookia
Levenhookia, also known as the styleworts, is a genus of ten recognized species in the family Stylidiaceae and is endemic to Australia. The genus is restricted to Western Australia almost exclusively with a few exceptions: L. pusillas range extends into South Australia, L. dubias range extends...

(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 ephemeral
Ephemeral Plant
An ephemeral plant is one marked by short life cycles, usually six to eight weeks. The word ephemeral means transitory or quickly fading. In regards to plants, it refers to several distinct growth strategies...

 annual
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 2 to 6 cm tall with obovate
Leaf shape
In botany, leaf shape is characterised with the following terms :* Acicular : Slender and pointed, needle-like* Acuminate : Tapering to a long point...

 leaves that are generally 2–5 mm long. Flowers are white and bloom from September to October in its native range. L. dubia is most closely related to L. sonderi
Levenhookia sonderi
Levenhookia sonderi, the slender stylewort, is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the genus Levenhookia . It is an ephemeral annual that grows only in Victoria, Australia. L. sonderi is most closely related to L. dubia and it has even been described as a variety of L. dubia in the past...

, which has been described as a variety of L. dubia in the past. It is endemic to 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...

 and has native ranges in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, and Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

. Its habitat has been reported as being sandy soils in granite outcrops.

Levenhookia dubia may have also grown in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

, but is currently listed as extinct there under the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act of 1995. Only one specimen of this species is held by the Tasmanian Herbarium, collected by W. Archer, who listed no date or locality on the specimen sheet. L. Rodway, author of a 1903 assessment of the Tasmanian flora, suggested this species could be found near Brighton
Brighton, Tasmania
Brighton is a suburb 27km north of Hobart, in Tasmania, Australia. It lies between Pontville and the outer Hobart suburb of Bridgewater on the Midland Highway. At the 2006 census, Brighton had a population of 3,145.-History:...

, on Mount Field
Mount Field (Tasmania)
Mount Field is a mountain in the Wellington Ranges northwest of the city of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is frequently snow covered, sometimes even in summer. It is a major feature of the Mount Field National Park, and is a popular destination for bushwalkers...

, and on the Bass Strait Islands, but these records are dubious and are not trusted.
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