Levenhookia octomaculata F.L.Erickson & J.H.Willis, Vict. Naturalist 72: 130, figs 1-6. 1956

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

11. Levenhookia octomaculata F.L.Erickson & J.H.Willis, Vict. Naturalist 72: 130, figs 1-6. 1956 Figs 1D , 7D

Type.

Australia. Western Australia: Bolgart, 2 Nov 1953, R. Erickson s.n. (holotype: MEL 2295754; isotypes: K 000060079, PERTH 01025074).

Description.

Annual herb 3-12 cm high. Glandular hairs 0.1-0.2 mm long. Stem dark reddish brown, often paler distally, simple or branched to varying degrees with spreading to almost patent or ascending branches, somewhat sparsely glandular-hairy (especially towards the base). Leaves cauline, scattered, green or reddish brown; lamina narrowly oblanceolate to ± linear, elliptic or ovate, 2.5-15 mm long including the petiole, 0.5-2 mm wide, obtuse, sparsely glandular-hairy on the abaxial surface and margins towards the base. Flowers usually in umbels or corymbs or more rarely in short racemes, 1-ca. 150 per plant; bracts narrowly oblanceolate, lanceolate or ± linear, 2.5-11 mm long, glabrous or sparsely glandular-hairy like the leaves; pedicels 3-20 mm long, sparsely glandular-hairy. Hypanthium depressed globose or globose, 0.7-1.3 mm long, 0.7-1.5 mm wide, glandular-hairy. Calyx lobes ± equal or subequal (with the anterior pair scarcely longer than the rest), 1.2-2 mm long, acute or subacute, glabrous or sparsely glandular-hairy near the base. Corolla bright to pale pink (rarely white) with two, dark red-pink, ± elliptic markings near the base of each lobe (rarely faint or lacking?) and a creamy white throat, whitish on the reverse with mottled pink-red markings; lobes evenly arranged or with the upper (posterior) ones ± paired vertically, often weakly recurved, obovate with an attenuate base, glabrous or with a few glandular hairs abaxially near the base; anterior lobes slightly shorter and narrower than the posterior pair, 3.2-5 mm long, 1.5-3 mm wide, rounded or more rarely retuse; posterior lobes 3.5-5.2 mm long, 2-3.5 mm wide, rounded or bluntly pointed; tube creamy white, 0.2-0.4 mm long, obscured by the calyx lobes, glabrous. Labellum ventral, 2.5-3.7 mm long including a 1-2 mm long claw; hood dark red-maroon adaxially, pink abaxially and deep yellow near the cleft, sometimes prominently papillate, with a short, blunt point at the cleft apex, sparsely glandular-hairy abaxially; basal appendages yellowish or creamy white, rounded, 0.5-0.6 mm long. Column sheath white or yellowish, glabrous, 1.2-1.8 mm high on the posterior side with a thickened rim and broad anterior cleft, 3 pendulous appendages present on the inner surface of the sheath towards the throat. Column creamy white, free, erect, slightly thickened distally, 3-4 mm long; stigmatic lobes to ca. 1.4 mm long, incurved, the lowermost developing while the column is hooded, the uppermost developing later. Capsule globose or ovoid, 1.5-2 mm long excluding calyx lobes. Seeds 0.4-0.5 mm long, ca. 0.3 mm wide.

Diagnostic features.

Levenhookia octomaculata has sparsely glandular-hairy stems (especially towards the base), bracts and calyx lobes that are glabrous or sparsely glandular-hairy near the base, long pedicels (5-20 mm), a short corolla tube (obscured by the calyx lobes), and a column sheath that is usually up to half the length of the column. The corolla lobes usually have a pair of ± elliptic markings near the base and may be mottled markings on the undersurface (but see notes below).

Phenology.

Flowering in October and November; fruiting in November and December.

Distribution.

Levenhookia octomaculata is endemic to south-western Australia (Fig. 7C ) where it is scattered across the Geraldton Sandplains, northern Avon Wheatbelt and northern Swan Coastal Plain bioregions, occurring from Eurardy Station in the north to the Chittering area in the south and extending into the Yalgoo bioregion at Mt Gibson Station.

Habitat.

This species grows in sand or sandy loam, usually over limestone or sandstone but sometimes in association with granite outcropping, lateritic gravel or banded ironstone. Associated vegetation is varied and includes heath, mallee heath, Acacia and Calothamnus low shrubland, Allocasuarina campestris shrubland, Melaleuca scrub, and open woodland with Eucalyptus loxophleba or Melaleuca preissiana . It can grow in sympatry with L. stipitata .

Conservation status.

Levenhookia octomaculata occurs in several nature reserves and national parks where it can be locally abundant. It is not currently considered to be at risk ( IUCN (2012): Least Concern).

Etymology.

From the Latin octo - (eight-) and maculatus (spotted): a reference to the pair of markings near the base of each corolla lobe.

Vernacular name.

Dotted Stylewort ( Erickson and Willis 1956).

Notes.

Levenhookia octomaculata was named on account of the eight prominent markings in the throat of the flower which, at the time, were thought to be unique in the genus ( Erickson and Willis 1956: 133); however, eight throat markings are present in many populations of L. stipitata which has led to a degree of taxonomic confusion. Moreover, is not known whether all populations of L. octomaculata possess eight throat markings; photographs associated with G. Byrne 600 (PERTH 06908349) suggest that they may sometimes be faint or perhaps altogether lacking. Levenhookia octomaculata can be reliably separated from L. stipitata by its bracts, which are glabrous or sparsely glandular-hairy abaxially near the base (cf. glandular hairy on the abaxial surface and margins) and calyx lobes, which are glabrous or sparsely glandular-hairy near the base (cf. moderately to sparsely glandular-hairy). It also tends to have fewer hairs on the stem and pedicels, a shorter column sheath (up to half the length of the column cf. more than half the length of the column) and a more prominently papillate labellum hood. I have observed both species growing intermixed without hybridisation at a site in Beekeepers Nature Reserve (J.A. Wege 2074 and J.A. Wege 2075), at which time L. octomaculata was in full flower, whereas L. stipitata was in late flower or had finished flowering. At this site, L. octomaculata had unique speckled markings on the undersurface of the corolla lobes but, having made limited field observations of this species, I am uncertain whether these are consistently present.

Illustrations.

R. Erickson, Triggerplants 201, Pl. 57, No. 3 and 208, Pl. 58, Nos. 15-19. 1958; B.J. Grieve & W.E. Blackall, How to know W. Austral. wildfl. 4: 766, no. 7. 1982 [column sheath not shown].

Selected specimens examined.

Australia. Western Australia: 13 km E of Mummaloo-Wye Bubba Hill, Mount Gibson Station, 21 Nov 1992, R.J. Cranfield 8562 (PERTH); Lesueur National Park, 1.8 km N of University track on Hakea track, E of Jurien Bay, 7 Nov 2007, A. Crawford 1495 (PERTH); Petrudor Rock Reserve, SE of Dalwallinu, 7 Nov 1999, M. Hislop 1858 (PERTH); Koolanooka Hills, 12 Oct 2005, R. Meissner & Y. Caruso 548 (PERTH); Murchison River near Z-Bend, Kalbarri National Park, 9 Oct 1982, K.H. Rechinger 58462 (PERTH); 6 km W on Beekeepers Rd from Brand Hwy, Beekeepers Nature Reserve, 30 Oct 2018, J.A. Wege 2074 (AD, CANB, MEL, PERTH); Quadrat WEST 1 on Eurardy Station, ca. 43 km N of Kalbarri turn-off on the North West Coastal Highway and N of the Murchison River, 3 Oct 2003, Wildflower Society of WA EURA 308 (PERTH).

Figures

Figure 1. Levenhookia is a genus of annual herbs endemic to Australia A distribution in temperate and semi-arid regions of Australia, scale bar 1000 km B L. leptantha (J. A. Wege 2063) C L. pusilla (J. A. Wege 1749 & W. S. Armbruster) D L. octomaculata (J. A. Wege 2074) E L. pulcherrima (J. A. Wege 1937). Photos by J. A. Wege.

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.