{{Short description|Species of shrub}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Speciesbox |image = Thomasia solanacea.jpg |genus = Thomasia |species = solanacea |status_system = DECF |status = P4 |authority = (Sims) J.Gay<ref name="APC">{{cite web |title=''Thomasia solanacea'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/79579 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=27 February 2023}}</ref> |synonyms_ref = <ref name="APC" /> |synonyms = ''Lasiopetalum solanaceum'' <small>Sims</small> }} [[File:Thomasia solanacea habit.jpg|thumb|Habit in the Australian National Botanic Gardens]]
'''''Thomasia solanacea''''' is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, bushy shrub with egg-shaped leaves, the bases heart-shaped, and racemes of white, cream-coloured or pink to purple flowers.
==Description== ''Thomasia solanacea'' is an erect, bushy shrub that typically grows to {{cvt|0.5–3|m}} high and {{cvt|2–3|m}} wide, its new growth covered with scaly, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped with a heart-shaped base, {{cvt|40–90|mm}} long and {{cvt|20–60|mm}} wide on a petiole up to {{cvt|40|mm}} long with stipules up to {{cvt|20|mm}} long at the base. The leaves have irregular edges and are covered with star-shaped hairs. The flowers are arranged in racemes of 4 to 9 on a hairy peduncle about {{cvt|40|mm}} long, each flower on a pedicel {{cvt|3-5|mm}} long with linear bracteoles at the base. The flowers are {{cvt|8–14|mm}} in diameter, the sepals white, cream-coloured or pink to purple, the petals, anthers and staminodes deep red. 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=64–65}}</ref><ref name=FB>{{FloraBase|name=''Thomasia solanacea''|id=5100}}</ref>
==Taxonomy and naming== This species was first formally described in 1812 by Sims who gave it the name ''Lasiopetalum solaceum'' in the ''Botanical Magazine''.<ref name="APNI1">{{cite web |title=''Lasiopetalum solanaceum'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/506542 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=27 February 2023}}</ref><ref name="J.Sims">{{cite journal |last1=Sims |first1=John |title=''Lasiopetalum solanaceum'' |journal=Curtis's Botanical Magazine |date=1812 |volume=36 |page=1486 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/480953#page/193/mode/1up |access-date=27 February 2023}}</ref> In 1821, Jaques Étienne Gay transferred the species to the genus ''Thomasia'' in the journal ''Mémoires du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle''.<ref name="APNI">{{cite web |title=''Thomasia solanacea'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/494936 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=27 February 2023}}</ref> The specific epithet (''solanacea'') means "''Solanum''-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=209 |edition=3rd}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== ''Thomasia solanacea'' usually grows as an undershrub in woodland and occurs between Denmark, the Stirling Range and Mount Manypeaks in the Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.<ref name="Blake" /><ref name="FB" />
==Conservation status== ''Thomasia solanacea'' is listed as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions,<ref name="FB" /> meaning that it is rare or near threatened.<ref name=codes>{{cite web|title=Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna|url=https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/plants-animals/threatened-species/Listings/Conservation%20code%20definitions.pdf|publisher=Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife|accessdate=27 February 2023}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q17580955}}
Category:Rosids of Western Australia solanacea Category:Plants described in 1812 Category:Taxa named by John Sims (taxonomist) Category:Endemic flora of Southwest Australia