Philydrella Caruel

Scientific Description

Family Philydraceae.

Habit and leaf form. Herbs. Plants leaves succulent. Perennial. Leaves basal and cauline. Plants with a basal concentration of leaves; cormous (with fibrous roots). Helophytic, or mesophytic. Leaves alternate; spiral and distichous (the lower distichous, the upper spiral); sessile; sheathing. Leaf sheaths with joined margins (basally), or with free margins. Leaves more or less edgewise to the stem; simple. Leaf blades entire; flat; subulate; parallel-veined; without cross-venules. Leaves eligulate; without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire. Leaf anatomy. Hairs absent. Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening absent.

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

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’ ((1-)2–10-flowered); in spikes. Inflorescences scapiflorous (scape 1, simple, often tinged reddish); terminal; the terminal flower usually rudimentary. Flowers bracteate (the bracts rather large, sheathing the flowers); small to medium-sized; fragrant, or odourless; very irregular; zygomorphic. The floral asymmetry involving the perianth and involving the androecium. Flowers cyclic; tetracyclic. Perigone tube absent. Perianth of ‘tepals’; 6 (but disguisedly so), or 4 (by misinterpretation); 2 -whorled; theoretically isomerous; joined (the two lateral (upper) members of the inner whorl fused with the upper (median) of the outer whorl to form a large, broad upper lip, the median (lower) member of the inner whorl forming a large lower lip; the laterals of the outer whorl small), or free (by misinterpretation); petaloid; glabrous; yellow. Androecium 1. Androecial members adnate (to the lateral tepals). Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 1; reduced in number relative to the adjacent perianth. Filaments glabrous. Anthers with hooked or reniform locules; becoming versatile (at anthesis); dehiscing via longitudinal slits; extrorse to introrse (becoming helically coiled at anthesis); tetrasporangiate. Pollen shed as single grains. Gynoecium 3 carpelled. The pistil 3 celled. Carpels isomerous with the perianth. Gynoecium syncarpous; eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary plurilocular; 3 locular (septal nectaries absent). Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1 (straight but flexing at anthesis); attenuate from the ovary, or from a depression at the top of the ovary; apical; shorter than the ovary at anthesis to about as long as the ovary at anthesis. Stigmas 1; 1 - lobed; capitate; dry type; papillate; Group II type. Placentation axile. Ovules 15–50 per locule (‘many’); non-arillate; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; not hairy; dehiscent; a capsule (fusiform). Capsules loculicidal. Seeds ellipsoidal to ovoid; copiously endospermic; with starch. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 1. Embryo straight. Testa reticulate-rugose. Seedling. Hypocotyl internode absent. Mesocotyl absent. Seedling collar not conspicuous. Cotyledon hyperphyll elongated; assimilatory; dorsiventrally flattened. Coleoptile absent. Seedling cataphylls absent. First leaf dorsiventral. Primary root ephemeral.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Native of Australia. Endemic to Australia. Australian states and territories: Western Australia. South-West Botanical Province.