''Stylidium debile'', commonly known as the frail triggerplant, is a

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

dicotyledon The dicotyledons, also known as dicots (or, more rarely, dicotyls), are one of the two groups into which all the flowering plants (angiosperms) were formerly divided. The name refers to one of the typical characteristics of the group: namely, t ...

ous plant that belongs to the genus ''

Stylidium ''Stylidium'' (also known as triggerplants or trigger plants) is a genus of dicotyledonous plants that belong to the family Stylidiaceae. The genus name ''Stylidium'' is derived from the Greek ''στύλος'' or ''stylos'' (column or pillar), wh ...

'' (family Stylidiaceae). ''S. debile'' is endemic to coastal areas in Queensland and New South Wales,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Characteristics

''Stylidium debile'' is an herbaceous

annual plant An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. The length of growing seasons and period in which they take place vary according to geographical ...

that grows from 15 to 30 cm tall. Oblanceolate or obovate leaves, about 20-200 per plant, form a basal rosette with stems absent or present. The leaves are generally 8–30 mm long and 3–7 mm wide. This species produces 1-2

scapes Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatta ...

per plant that are glabrous. Inflorescences are 10–25 cm long and produce pink flowers that bloom year-round in their native range. ''S. debiles historical distribution included a range on the

Atherton Tableland The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River. It was dammed to form an irrigation reservoir named Lake Tina ...

, at Mt Playfair near

Tambo, Queensland Tambo is a rural town and locality in the Blackall-Tambo Region, Queensland, Australia. Cattle and tourism are the major industries of the town. A number of heritage buildings survive from the earliest days of settlement. Geography Tambo is in ...

, and as far south as Alexandria Swamps in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, though it is probably extinct in these locations due to extensive habitat modification. More recent

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

collections relate a distribution from Blackdown Tableland and Deepwater National Park in Queensland south to the area around

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...

in New South Wales. Its typical habitat has been reported as sandy or pale silty clay soils on creekbanks or in swampy areas. Dominant vegetation in association with its habitat include '' Melaleuca quinquenervia'' and '' Lophostemon suaveolens''. ''S. debile'' is most closely related to '' S. paniculatum'' but differs by the inflorescence form and the presence of

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. Its conservation status has been assessed as secure.Bean, A.R. (1999). A revision of ''Stylidium'' sect. ''Debilia'' Mildbr., ''S.'' sect. ''Floodia'' Mildbr. and ''S.'' sect. ''Lanata'' A.R.Bean (Stylidiaceae). ''Austrobaileya'', 5(3): 427-455.

Taxonomy

The infraspecific taxonomy of this species formerly listed two varieties: * ''Stylidium debile'' var. ''debile'' Maiden & Betche * ''Stylidium debile'' var. ''paniculatum'' Maiden & Betche Joseph Maiden and

Ernst Betche Daniel Ludwig Ernst Betche (31 December 1851, in Potsdam – 28 June 1913, in Sydney) was a German-Australian horticulturist and botanist. His mother died at his birth and he was of delicate constitution all his life. His father was sufficiently ...

described the differences between the two varieties in a 1905 publication.Maiden, J.H. and Betche, E. (1905). Notes from the Botanic Gardens, Sydney No. 11. ''Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales Series 2'', 30(3): 367 In 1999,

Anthony Bean Anthony Russell Bean (born 1957) is an Australian botanist who works at the Queensland Herbarium and Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha. Since 1982, he has led the Eucalyptus Study Group of the Society for Growing Australian Plants. Care ...

elevated ''S. debile'' var. ''paniculatum'' to the species level, giving it the name '' Stylidium paniculatum'' (Maiden & Betche) A.R.Bean, thus rendering the autonym var. ''debile'' redundant.

Cultivation

This coastal species is one of the relative few ''Stylidium'' species that is available in cultivation and is grown in similar conditions to tropical Australian '' Drosera''. It is propagated by division of the vegetative clones that arise from the root system. And though in its native range it may be considered an annual, in cultivation it is mostly a perennial.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7629531 Asterales of Australia Carnivorous plants of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1858

debile Debile is a Latin word meaning "weak". It may refer to: * Part of a sword in fencing; see See also *Weak (disambiguation) Weak may refer to: Songs * "Weak" (AJR song), 2016 * "Weak" (Melanie C song), 2011 * "Weak" (SWV song), 1993 * "Weak" ...

Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller