{{Short description|Species of shrub}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Speciesbox |name = |image = |image_caption = |genus = Thomasia |species = discolor |status_system = |status = |authority = Steud.<ref name="APC">{{cite web |title=''Thomasia discolor'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/65327 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=8 January 2023}}</ref> |synonyms = }}
'''''Thomasia discolor''''' is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, compact shrub with hairy new growth, heart-shaped leaves with wavy, lobed edges, and pink flowers in crowded clusters.
==Description== ''Thomasia discolor'' is a compact shrub that typically grows to {{cvt|0.5–1.5|m}} high, {{cvt|0.8–1.5|m}} wide and has its young growth covered with rust-coloured, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are heart-shaped to oval, {{cvt|25–50|mm}} long and {{cvt|20–40|mm}} wide on a petiole up to {{cvt|20|mm}} long. The edges of the leaves are wavy and lobed, the lower surface densely covered with white or rust-coloured, star-shaped hairs. The flowers are arranged in crowded racemes of up to 10, each flower on a pedicel {{cvt|6–7|mm}} long, with hairy bracteoles at the base. The sepals are pink, up to {{cvt|20|mm}} long, but there are no petals. Flowering occurs from September to December.<ref name="Blake">{{cite book |last1=Blake |first1=Trevor L. |title=Lantern bushes of Australia; Thomasias & allied genera : a field and horticultural guide |date=2021 |publisher=Australian Plants Society, Keilor Plains Group |location=Victoria |isbn=9780646839301 |pages=20–21}}</ref><ref name=FB>{{FloraBase|id=5079|name=''Thomasia discolor''}}</ref>
==Taxonomy and naming== ''Thomasia discolor'' was first formally described in 1845 by Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel in Lehmann's ''Plantae Preissianae'' from specimens collected in 1840.<ref name="APNI">{{cite web |title=''Thomasia discolor'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/472345 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=8 January 2023}}</ref><ref name="Steud.">{{cite book |last1=von Steudel |first1=Ernst G. |editor-last1=Lehmann |editor-first1=Johann G.C. |editor-last2=Preiss |editor-first2=Ludwig |title=Plantae preissianae sive enumeratio plantarum quas in australasia occidentali et meridionali-occidentali |date=1845 |publisher=Sumptibus Meissneri |location=Hamburg |pages=233–234 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/9227#page/238/mode/1up |access-date=8 January 2023}}</ref> The specific epithet (''discolor'') means "variegated", referring to the leaves.<ref name="Sharr">{{cite book |last1=Sharr |first1=Francis Aubi |last2=George |first2=Alex |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |page=184 |edition=3rd}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== This thomasia grows in coastal heath in moist places, hill slopes and tops in the Esperance Plains and Jarrah Forest bioregions of south-western Western Australia.<ref name="Blake"/><ref name="FB"/>
==Conservation status== ''Thomasia discolor'' is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.<ref name="FB" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q17580970}}
Category:Rosids of Western Australia Category:Plants described in 1845 discolor Category:Taxa named by Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel Category:Endemic flora of Southwest Australia