Stylidium affine
Encyclopedia
Stylidium affine is a species in the genus Stylidium (family Stylidiaceae
) that is endemic to Western Australia
.
that possesses long erect or recurved lanceolate
leaves. Leaves are 12–30 cm (4.7–11.8 in) long, 2–4 mm wide, and arranged in groups of 2–4, emerging from a basal papery sheath, having the overall appearance of a tuft. Inflorescence
s are paniculate, 20–30 cm (7.9–11.8 in) long, and densely glandular. Peduncle
s have 1–3 flowers, which are rose pink to mauve coloured with vertically-paired corolla lobes (anterior and posterior lobes both 8–11 mm long). It has 4 throat appendages, the upper two of which are white, wing-like, and around 4 mm long. It has a diploid chromosome number of 2n=14. Stylidium affine flowers in October.
soils often near granite outcrops in association with Eucalyptus wandoo
in open woodland. It is native to an area from east of Gingin
south-east to Kojonup
and west to Dunsborough
. In the southern part of its range, S. affine is found in open woodland in association with E. wandoo or Corymbia calophylla
. It's distribution is separate and west of related species like S. caricifolium.
The species now known as S. affine was first described by Robert Graham
as Stylidium drummondii in an 1841 volume of the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. Graham based his new species description on plants raised from seed that were sent from James Drummond
to a Mr Low of Clapton, England
. Mr Low sent a plant to Graham in October 1839. The specimen first flowered in November 1840. The exact provenance of the seed sent to Mr Low is not explicitly stated by Graham in his description, but it is speculated that the seed came from Drummond's travels in the Swan
, Avon
, Helena
, and Toodyay valleys, which are within the bounds of the known distribution of S. affine.
In 1845, Otto Wilhelm Sonder
published the name Stylidium affine. Since then, it has been used in multiple publications including Johannes Mildbraed
's 1908 taxonomic monograph on the family, whereas S. drummondii has only been used sparingly. While preparing a revision of the family for the Flora of Australia
series, Juliet Wege
discovered that the description and illustration of S. drummondii is synonymous
with and antedates that of S. affine, thus making S. drummondii the proper name for the species under strict priority nomenclature rules regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). Citing the extensive use of S. affine over S. drummondii and the preference for preserving nomenclatural stability (Article 14.2 of the ICBN), Wege proposed and argued for the conservation
of the name S. affine over S. drummondii in 2007. The conservation of the name S. affine was recommended by a 17 to 1 vote by the Nomenclature Committee for Vascular Plants in February 2009, but the proposal has not yet been assessed by the International Botanical Congress
.
Two varieties of S. affine have been described in the past, the first of which were S. affine var. minus and the autonym
S. affine var. affine described in Sonder's original 1845 publication. In 1904, Ernst Georg Pritzel published S. affine var. laxum. Both var. minus and var. laxum are now considered to be synonymous with S. caricifolium, rendering the autonym var. affine unnecessary.
For a brief period of time, S. affine was considered to be a subspecies
of the allied S. caricifolium. Sherwin Carlquist
found very little difference between S. affine, S. nungarinense, and S. caricifolium, arguing in 1969 that the former two could not be maintained at the species rank. Subsequent publications in the early 1980s determined that S. affine was worthy of species rank due to differential leaf morphology and differences in chromosome count.
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...
) that is endemic to 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...
.
Description
Stylidium affine is a perennial plantPerennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
that possesses long erect or recurved lanceolate
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. Leaves are 12–30 cm (4.7–11.8 in) long, 2–4 mm wide, and arranged in groups of 2–4, emerging from a basal papery sheath, having the overall appearance of a tuft. 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 paniculate, 20–30 cm (7.9–11.8 in) long, and densely glandular. Peduncle
Peduncle (botany)
In botany, a peduncle is a stem supporting an inflorescence, or after fecundation, an infructescence.The peduncle is a stem, usually green and without leaves, though sometimes colored or supporting small leaves...
s have 1–3 flowers, which are rose pink to mauve coloured with vertically-paired corolla lobes (anterior and posterior lobes both 8–11 mm long). It has 4 throat appendages, the upper two of which are white, wing-like, and around 4 mm long. It has a diploid chromosome number of 2n=14. Stylidium affine flowers in October.
Distribution and habitat
Stylidium affine grows in lateriticLaterite
Laterites are soil types rich in iron and aluminium, formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are rusty-red because of iron oxides. They develop by intensive and long-lasting weathering of the underlying parent rock...
soils often near granite outcrops in association with Eucalyptus wandoo
Eucalyptus wandoo
Eucalyptus wandoo is a medium-sized tree widely distributed in southwest Western Australia.-Description:It grows as a small to medium-sized tree up to 25 metres in height. It has smooth bark, often in mottled patches of white, light grey, light brown light yellow and pink...
in open woodland. It is native to an area from east of Gingin
Gingin, Western Australia
Gingin is an agricultural town in Western Australia. The town is located north of Perth along the Brand Highway.The town is well suited for agriculture with a mild climate and available water sources...
south-east to Kojonup
Kojonup, Western Australia
Kojonup is a town located 256 km south-east of Perth, Western Australia along Albany Highway.The name Kojonup is believed to refer to the "Kodja" or stone axe made by Indigenous Australians from the local stone....
and west to Dunsborough
Dunsborough, Western Australia
Dunsborough is a coastal town in the South West of Western Australia, south of Perth on the shores of Geographe Bay.Dunsborough is a popular tourist destination for Western Australians; in 1999 it was voted the state's best tourist destination. During the last decade the town has grown quickly and...
. In the southern part of its range, S. affine is found in open woodland in association with E. wandoo or Corymbia calophylla
Corymbia calophylla
Corymbia calophylla is a bloodwood native to Western Australia. Common names include Marri and Port Gregory Gum, and a long standing usage has been Red Gum due to the red gum effusions often found on trunks.It is distinctive among bloodwoods for its very large buds and fruit Corymbia calophylla...
. It's distribution is separate and west of related species like S. caricifolium.
Taxonomy and botanical history
Robert Graham (botanist)
Robert Graham was a Scottish physician and botanist. He was the inaugural chair of botany at the University of Edinburgh...
as Stylidium drummondii in an 1841 volume of the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. Graham based his new species description on plants raised from seed that were sent from James Drummond
James Drummond (botanist)
James Drummond was a botanist and naturalist who was an early settler in Western Australia.-Early life:...
to a Mr Low of Clapton, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Mr Low sent a plant to Graham in October 1839. The specimen first flowered in November 1840. The exact provenance of the seed sent to Mr Low is not explicitly stated by Graham in his description, but it is speculated that the seed came from Drummond's travels in the Swan
Swan Valley, Western Australia
The Swan Valley is a region in the upper reaches of the Swan River between Guildford and Bells Rapids, Western Australia. It is bordered to the east by the Darling Scarp. Both Ellen Brook and Jane Brook lie within the region and discharge into the Swan River...
, Avon
Avon Valley, Western Australia
Avon Valley may refer to:* the fertile land in the catchment of the Avon River * the Avon Valley National Park* the final Eastern Railway route through the valley* Avon Valley School...
, Helena
Helena Valley, Western Australia
Helena Valley is the name of a river valley and a locality in the foothills of the Darling Scarp in Perth, Western Australia. It is located approximately 10 minutes from Midland.-Geology:...
, and Toodyay valleys, which are within the bounds of the known distribution of S. affine.
In 1845, Otto Wilhelm Sonder
Otto Wilhelm Sonder
Otto Wilhelm Sonder was a German botanist and pharmacist who was a native of Holstein. From 1841 to 1878 he was the proprietor of a pharmacy in Hamburg. In 1846 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Königsberg.He was the author, with William Henry Harvey , of the Flora Capensis...
published the name Stylidium affine. Since then, it has been used in multiple publications including Johannes Mildbraed
Johannes Mildbraed
Gottfried Wilhelm Johannes Mildbraed was a German botanist that specialized in mosses, ferns, and various spermatophytes. He is well-known for authoring the most current monograph and taxonomic treatment of the family Stylidiaceae in 1908 as part of the unfinished Das Pflanzenreich series. The...
's 1908 taxonomic monograph on the family, whereas S. drummondii has only been used sparingly. While preparing a revision of the family for the Flora of Australia
Flora of Australia (series)
The Flora of Australia is a 59 volume series describing the vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens present in Australia and its external territories...
series, Juliet Wege
Juliet Wege
Juliet Ann Wege is an Australian botanist. She graduated in 1992 and gained a PhD at the University of Western Australia in 1999. She currently works as a researcher at the Western Australian Herbarium run by Western Australia's Department of Environment and Conservation...
discovered that the description and illustration of S. drummondii is synonymous
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
with and antedates that of S. affine, thus making S. drummondii the proper name for the species under strict priority nomenclature rules regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). Citing the extensive use of S. affine over S. drummondii and the preference for preserving nomenclatural stability (Article 14.2 of the ICBN), Wege proposed and argued for the conservation
Conserved name
A conserved name or nomen conservandum is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. Nomen conservandum is a Latin term, meaning a "name which should be conserved"...
of the name S. affine over S. drummondii in 2007. The conservation of the name S. affine was recommended by a 17 to 1 vote by the Nomenclature Committee for Vascular Plants in February 2009, but the proposal has not yet been assessed by the International Botanical Congress
International Botanical Congress
International Botanical Congress is a large-scale meeting of botanists in all scientific fields, from all over the world. Authorized by the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies , congresses are held every six years with the venue circulating around the world. The XVIII...
.
Two varieties of S. affine have been described in the past, the first of which were S. affine var. minus and the autonym
Autonym (botany)
In botanical nomenclature, autonyms are automatically created names, as regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature . Autonyms are cited without an author. Relevant provisions are in articles 6.8, 22.1-3 and 26.1-3....
S. affine var. affine described in Sonder's original 1845 publication. In 1904, Ernst Georg Pritzel published S. affine var. laxum. Both var. minus and var. laxum are now considered to be synonymous with S. caricifolium, rendering the autonym var. affine unnecessary.
For a brief period of time, S. affine was considered to be a subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of the allied S. caricifolium. Sherwin Carlquist
Sherwin Carlquist
Sherwin Carlquist is an American botanist and photographer. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1952 and a Ph.D. in botany in 1956, also at Berkeley. Carlquist did a postdoctoral study at Harvard University from 1955 to 1956. After his postdoctoral...
found very little difference between S. affine, S. nungarinense, and S. caricifolium, arguing in 1969 that the former two could not be maintained at the species rank. Subsequent publications in the early 1980s determined that S. affine was worthy of species rank due to differential leaf morphology and differences in chromosome count.