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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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Gratiola L.

Reference
Sp.Pl. [Linnaeus] 1:17 (1753)
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Common name. Brooklimes. Family Scrophulariaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Herbs. Perennial; plants with a basal concentration of leaves, or with neither basal nor terminal concentrations of leaves; to 0.5 m high. Hydrophytic, or helophytic, or mesophytic; when hydrophytic, rooted. Leaves minute to medium-sized; opposite; ‘herbaceous’, or leathery, or membranous; subsessile to sessile (or stem-clasping); simple; epulvinate. Leaf blades entire; ovate, or oblong, or elliptic; pinnately veined. Mature leaf blades adaxially glabrous, or pubescent; abaxially glabrous, or pubescent. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire, or serrate, or dentate. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Leaf anatomy. Hydathodes present (occasionally), or absent. Hairs present, or absent; glandular hairs present, or absent; complex hairs present, or absent. Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring.

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

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; axillary; in racemes and in spikes. The terminal inflorescence unit cymose, or racemose. Inflorescences terminal; open, leafy. Flowers pedicellate to sessile; bracteate; bracteolate; small to medium-sized; very irregular; zygomorphic; 4 merous, or 5 merous; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 9, or 10; 2 -whorled; isomerous, or anisomerous. Calyx present; 5; 1 -whorled; polysepalous (sepals more or less equal or unequal); imbricate, or valvate; persistent; accrescent; with the median member posterior. Sepals ovate, or linear. Corolla present; 4 (the posterior pair united), or 5; 1 -whorled; gamopetalous; lobed. Corolla lobes markedly shorter than the tube. Corolla imbricate, or valvate; tubular; slightly bilabiate; hairy adaxially (at the throat); plain, or with contrasting markings; white, or yellow, or pink, or purple. Androecium 2, or 4. Androecial members adnate (to the corolla); all equal, or markedly unequal (when minute staminodes present); free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens, or including staminodes. Staminodes when present 2; representing the anterior-lateral pair. Stamens 2; remaining included; reduced in number relative to the adjacent perianth; fertile stamens representing the posterior-lateral pair; oppositisepalous. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; bilocular (cells connivent); tetrasporangiate. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium non-petaloid; syncarpous; synstylovarious to eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular. Gynoecium median; stylate. Styles 1; simple; attenuate from the ovary, or from a depression at the top of the ovary; apical; persistent, or deciduous. Stigmas 1; 1 - lobed, or 2 - lobed. Placentation axile, or apical. Ovules 50 per locule (to ‘many’); pendulous to ascending; non-arillate; anatropous, or campylotropous, or hemianatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; not spinose; dehiscent; a capsule. Capsules septicidal, loculicidal, and valvular (opening from the central axis by 4 valves). Fruit 2 celled; 50 seeded (to ‘many’). Seeds endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds minute. Cotyledons 2. Embryo straight to curved. Testa striate-reticulate.

Special features. Corolla tube exceeding the calyx; straight. The upper lip of the corolla incorporating 2 members, the lower 3; (posterior, adaxial) lip of the corolla entire, or bilobed. Lower (abaxial) lip of the corolla 3 lobed.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Native of Australia. Not endemic to Australia. Australian states and territories: Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, and Tasmania. South-West Botanical Province.

Etymology. From the Greek for "anything drawn or written" and -ites, suffix implying belonging or connection; refers to the sori, crowded in lines, like writing.