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The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system, WAHerb, and DBCA’s flora taxonomic names application, WACensus, have been set to read-only mode since 1 October 2025. Recent taxonomic changes are not currently being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or the census. Due to the rapidly approaching holiday season and associated agency and facility soft closures, along with the substantial work involved in data mapping, cleaning, and verification, the migration to the new collection management software is not expected to occur before 1 March 2026, when a further update will be provided. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

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Byblis Salisb.

Reference
Parad.Lond. pt. 95 (1808)
Name Status
Current
Image

Scientific Description

Family Byblidaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Herbs. ‘Carnivorous’. Trapping mechanism passive. The traps consisting of the sticky-glandular, non-irritable (flypaper-like) leaves. Annual, or perennial. Leaves alternate; spiral; non-sheathing; simple; epulvinate. Leaf blades entire; linear. Leaves without stipules. Vernation circinnate; circinnate. Leaf anatomy. Hairs present; glandular hairs present. Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening absent.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary; axillary; pedicellate; ebracteate; ebracteolate; regular; 5 merous; cyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 10; 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous (basally); imbricate; regular; persistent. Corolla 5; 1 -whorled; gamopetalous (the petals cuneate, shortly connate basally); imbricate, or contorted; regular; pink, or purple, or blue. Corolla members apically fringed, or entire (then apically dentate or serrate). Androecium 5. Androecial members free of the perianth, or adnate; all equal, or markedly unequal (sometimes declinate); free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; all alternating with the corolla members; erect in bud, or inflexed in bud. Anthers connivent; basifixed; non-versatile; dehiscing via short slits (the openings confluent over the anther tip); tetrasporangiate. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular. Styles 1. Stigmas 1; capitate (or oblong). Placentation axile. Ovules 10–50 per locule (numerous); anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule (2-valved). Capsules loculicidal. Fruit 2 locular. Dispersal unit the seed. Fruit numerous-seeded. Seeds endospermic. Cotyledons 2. Embryo straight.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Native of Australia. Not endemic to Australia. Australian states and territories: Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland. Northern Botanical Province, Eremaean Botanical Province, and South-West Botanical Province.