''Thomasia tremandroides'' is a species of flowering plant in the family
Malvaceae and is
endemic to the
south-west
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
of Western Australia. It is an erect or low, spreading shrub with many stems, flimsy, papery, egg-shaped leaves and
raceme
A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...
s of papery, mauve to pink flowers.
Description
''Thomasia tremandroides'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to high and wide, its many stems covered with both simple and star-shaped hairs. Its leaves are flimsy, papery and egg-shaped, long and wide on a minute
petiole with egg-shaped, leaf-like
stipules long at the base. Both surface of the leaves are densely covered with fine, star-shaped hairs. The flowers are arranged singly or in racemes of up to 4 on a densely hairy
peduncle Peduncle may refer to:
*Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed
*Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body
**Peduncle (art ...
, each flower wide on a densely hairy
pedicel
Pedicle or pedicel may refer to:
Human anatomy
*Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures
...
with 3 hairy
bracteoles about long at the base. The
sepals are papery, mauve to pink, the petals purplish-black and minute. Flowering occurs from August to November.
Taxonomy
''Thomasia tremandroides'' was first formally described in 1974 by
Susan Paust in the journal ''
Nuytsia'' from specimens she collected north of
Wubin in 1972.
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 ...
(''tremandroides'') means resembling some species of "
Tremandraceae",
(now included in the family
Elaeocarpaceae).
Distribution and habitat
This thomasia grows in open situations or as an undershrub between
Bencubbin and the
Murchison River, but mainly south of
Three Springs, in the
Avon Wheatbelt,
Geraldton Sandplains and
Murchison bioregions in the south-west of Western Australia.
Conservation status
''Thomasia microphylla'' is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions
The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Western Australian government
The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state de ...
.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17580952
tremandroides
Rosids of Western Australia
Plants described in 1974
Endemic flora of Southwest Australia