Stylidium spathulatum 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...

). The species is informally named the Creamy Triggerplant for the colour of its flowers.

The flowers are yellowish-white and appear between October and January. These are presented on a scape

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....

, 0.05 to 0.5 metres above the ground, which is glandular at the base and glabrous on the upper parts. The leaves are spathulate, or inversely lance-shaped, tufted and spread out just above ground level. It is found on dunes, granite outcrops, swamps and other moist areas, amongst Eucalypts, heathland or shrubs.

It is found in the Southwest Botanical Province of 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...

. The species was first described by Robert Brown

Robert Brown (botanist)

Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...

 in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae of 1810, based on a collection he made in his visit to King George Sound

King George Sound

King George Sound is the name of a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Located at , it is the site of the city of Albany.The sound covers an area of and varies in depth from to ....

 in 1801. This was sketched and annotated for later colouring by the botanical illustrator Ferdinand Bauer

Ferdinand Bauer

Ferdinand Lucas Bauer was an Austrian botanical illustrator who travelled on Matthew Flinders' expedition to Australia.-Biography:...

, Brown's companion on the HMS Investigator. The lectotype

Lectotype

In botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature, a lectotype is a kind of name-bearing type. When a species was originally described on the basis of a name-bearing type consisting of multiple specimens, one of those may be designated as the lectotype...

's locality is noted as Princess Royal Harbour, King George Sound.