Thomasia × formosa
Thomasia × formosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, compact shrub with densely hairy branchlets, hairy, coarsely serrated, egg-shaped to elliptic or oblong leaves, and racemes of pink or purple flowers arranged in leaf axils.
Description
Thomasia × formosa is an erect, compact shrub that typically grows to high, wide and has its branchlets densely covered with rust-coloured, star-shaped hairs. The leaves are egg-shaped to elliptic or oblong, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long with oval stipules long at the base. The upper surface of the leaves is wrinkled, the edges have rounded teeth and down-curved edges, and both surfaces are covered with rust-coloured, star-shaped hairs. The flowers are arranged in racemes of 7 or more in leaf axils on a peduncle long, each flower on a pedicel up to long, with egg-shaped bracts and 3 bracteoles about long at the base. The sepals are pink or purple with lobes long. Flowering occurs in September and October.Taxonomy and naming
Thomasia × formosa was first formally described in 1974 by Susan Paust in the journal Nuytsia, from specimens collected by near Three Springs in 1972. The specific epithet means "handsome".This species is an inter-generic hybrid between Thomasia macrocalyx and Lysiosepalum rugosum.