Levenhookia leptantha

Levenhookia leptantha Benth.

Levenhookia leptantha is an annual herb in the Stylidiaceae family, native to Western Australia. It grows 2–10 cm tall with reddish, glandular-hairy stems and succulent, lanceolate to obovate leaves. The flowers, usually in umbels, have bright pink corollas with yellow throats and dark markings. The species is named for its slender corolla tube, which appears narrow in pressed specimens. It blooms from September to October in sandy or sandy clay soils, often on granite outcrops and in winter-wet depressions.

Description

Levenhookia leptantha is an annual herb 2–10 cm tall, with reddish to dark red, glandular-hairy stems that are typically unbranched. Leaves are cauline, scattered, and succulent, ranging from lanceolate to obovate, 1–8 mm long. Flowers are arranged in umbels or short racemes, with 1–30 per plant. Bracts are lanceolate to elliptic, and pedicels are glandular-hairy. The hypanthium is globose to obovoid, and calyx lobes are acute and glandular. The corolla is bright pink with a yellow throat and dark pink markings, and lobes are obovate to incised. The corolla tube is creamy white or yellowish with pink streaks. The species is named for its slender corolla tube, which appears narrow in pressed specimens. It is endemic to Western Australia, found in sandy or sandy clay soils on granite outcrops and in winter-wet depressions.