Trigger Plant

A Grass Trigger Plant 'meadow' on the slopes of Mt Baw Baw

The Trigger Plant, or more correctly, Grass Trigger Plant, Stylidium graminifolium, is a fascinating Australian endemic plant that in our district grows on the Baw Baw Plateau, behind the sand dunes of Westernport Bay and Bass Coast, and all sorts of places in between. It seems to like gravelly-sandy soils in open woodlands and heathlands. At certain times, some locations are awash with the pink flower heads and sometimes you can fluke an occasional white one.

The most ‘fascinating’ characteristic of the Trigger Plant is the way it has evolved to achieve pollination. Under the petals of the flower is a sensitive column that has a pollen ‘club’ attached to its end. When an insect is attracted to the nectar in the throat of the flower, the column is ‘triggered’ to rapidly spring upwards and ‘club’ the insect, covering it with pollen. The insect flies on to the next flower and spreads the pollen and the process is repeated.

A further fascination of this amazing plant is that some glandular hairs under the flower can trap insects giving rise to the argument that the plant may in part be carnivorous.

Grass Trigger Plants are readily cultivated. They have a long flowering period and make a perfect wildflower addition to any native garden.

What’s not to like?