''Thomasia grandiflora'', commonly known as large-flowered thomasia, is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the south-west of Western Australia. The flowers are pinkish-purple with a papery appearance hanging in pendents from the leaf axils. The calyx lobes are prominent and larger than the petals.

Description

''Thomasia grandiflora'' is a small shrub that grows to about high and wide. The dark, bright green leaves vary in shape, usually heart-shaped or occasionally narrowly elliptic, slightly flexible, leathery and long. The flowers have wide, conspicuous, pinkish-purple calyx lobes that are more prominent than the petals. The calyx is thicker near the mid-vein. The small petals are densely covered with star-shaped hairs, occasionally with only a few scattered hairs. The flowers have a papery texture and about across on short pendant stalks. The flowers are followed by capsules containing black seeds that are shed from the plant when ripe. Flowering occurs from winter to spring.

Taxonomy and naming

''Thomasia grandiflora'' was first formally described by botanist John Lindley in 1839 who published the description in ''

A sketch of the vegetation of the Swan River Colony "A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony", also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Sketch Veg. Swan R.'', is an 1839 article by John Lindley on the flora of the Swan River Colony. Nearly 300 new species were published in it, ...

'' in 1839. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''grandiflora'') is from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''grandis'' meaning "large" or "great" and ''flos'' meaning "flower" referring to the large flowers of the species.

Distribution and habitat

Large-flowered thomasia is a widespread species, mostly found in near-coastal locations growing in open forest in the south-west of Western Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7795559 grandiflora Rosids of Western Australia Plants described in 1839 Taxa named by John Lindley