Thomasia rugosa, commonly known as wrinkled leaf thomasia,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has wrinkled, lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves with wavy edges, and pink to mauve flowers.
Thomasia rugosa is a densely-branched shrub that typically grows to 0.6–1 m (2 ft 0 in – 3 ft 3 in) high and 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) wide, its young branchlets densely covered with star-shaped hairs. The leaves are wrinkled, lance-shaped to egg-shaped base, 25–75 mm (0.98–2.95 in) long and 30–35 mm (1.2–1.4 in) wide, on a petiole up to 20 mm (0.79 in) long with hairy, wing-like stipules 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) long at the base. The edges of the leaves are wavy, the lower surface densely woolly-hairy. The flowers are pink to mauve, about 12 mm (0.47 in) wide, and arranged in racemes on a hairy peduncle, with hairy bracteoles at the base of the sepals. The sepals are 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) long but there are no petals. Flowering occurs from August to December.[2][3]
Thomasia rugosa was first formally described in 1846 by Nikolai Turczaninow in the Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou, from specimens collected by James Drummond.[4][5] The specific epithet (rugosa) means "wrinkled", referring to the leaves.[3]
Wrinkled leaf thomasia grows in heath and mallee shrubland between Lake Grace, Pithara and Donnybrook in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Mallee bioregions of south-western Western Australia.[2][3]
Thomasia quercifolia is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.[2]
Habit Thomasia rugosa, commonly known as wrinkled leaf thomasia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has wrinkled, lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves with wavy edges, and pink to mauve flowers.
