Skip to main content

Service Notice

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. The project team is now conducting testing of the migrated data, and a further update will be provided by the end of the financial year (1 July). Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

The notice period started at 9:45 am on Friday, 12 December 2025 +08:00 and will end at 12:00 pm on Wednesday, 1 July 2026 +08:00.

Advanced Search

Byblidaceae Domin

Reference
Acta Bot.Bohem. 1:3 (1922)
Name Status
Current
Image

Scientific Description

Common name. Byblis Family.

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

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

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary (axillary); ebracteate; 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. Corolla members apically fringed, or entire (B. gigantea). Androecium 5. Androecial members free of the perianth, or adnate (to the base of the corolla tube); 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 pores, or 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. Placentation axile. Ovules 10–50 per locule (? — ‘many’); anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule. Capsules loculicidal. Dispersal unit the seed. Seeds endospermic. Cotyledons 2. Embryo straight. Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar.

Physiology, biochemistry. Aluminium accumulation not found.

Geography, cytology, number of species. World distribution: Northern and South-western Australia, New Guinea. 3 species.