{{Short description|Species of shrub}} {{Speciesbox |genus = Thomasia |species = rulingioides |status_system = |status = |authority = Steud.<ref name="APC">{{cite web |title=''Thomasia rulingioides'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/97499 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=23 February 2023}}</ref> }}
'''''Thomasia rulingioides''''' is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, open shrub with densely hairy new growth, narrowly oblong to narrowly egg-shaped leaves with wavy edges, and pink to purple flowers.
==Description== ''Thomasia rulingioides'' is an erect, open shrub that typically grows to {{cvt|15–65|cm}} high and {{cvt|50–80|cm}} wide and has its young growth densely covered with star-shaped hairs. The leaves are narrowly oblong to narrowly egg-shaped, {{cvt|5–30|mm}} long and {{cvt|3–10|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|1–2|mm}} long with the edges wavy and rolled under. There are stipules at the base of the petiole, but are soon shed. Both surfaces of the leaves are covered with star-shaped hairs, more densely and paler on the lower surface. The flowers are about {{cvt|8|mm}} in diameter and arranged in racemes of 2 to 5, each flower on a pedicel about {{cvt|3|mm}} long, with hairy, linear bracteoles {{cvt|3–6|mm}} long at the base. The sepals are pink to purple, joined for about half their length and the petals are tiny. Flowering occurs from May to October.<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=60–61}}</ref><ref name=FB>{{FloraBase|id=17322|name=''Thomasia rulingioides''}}</ref>
==Taxonomy and naming== ''Thomasia rulingioides'' was first formally described in 1845 by Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel in Lehmann's ''Plantae Preissianae'' from specimens collected in 1839.<ref name="APNI">{{cite web |title=''Thomasia rulingioides'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/494805 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=23 February 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 |page=232 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/9227#page/237/mode/1up |access-date=23 February 2023}}</ref> The specific epithet (''rulingioides'') means "''Rulingia''-like".<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=298 |edition=3rd}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== This thomasia grows in deep sand over limestone, in scattered locations, mainly near the coast between Perth and Geraldton but also near Esperance and further inland near Three Springs in the Geraldton Sandplains and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.<ref name="Blake"/><ref name="FB"/>
==Conservation status== ''Thomasia rulingioides'' is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.<ref name="FB" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q51047074}}
rulingioides Category:Rosids of Western Australia Category:Plants described in 1845 Category:Taxa named by Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel Category:Endemic flora of Southwest Australia