Thysanotus anceps
Thysanotus anceps is a species of flowering plant in the Asparagaceae family, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a leafless perennial herb with an irregularly shaped rhizome, branched stems, and umbels of purple flowers with elliptic, fringed petals, linear to lance-shaped sepals, six stamens and a curved style.
Description
Thysanotus anceps is a leafless perennial herb with an irregularly shaped rhizome up to long and wide. Young plants have linear leaves long and about wide, but mature plants are leafless with three or four branching stems that are more or less square at the base. The flowers are borne in umbels of two or three flowers, each on a pedicel about long. The flowers are purple, with perianth segments long, the sepals linear to lance-shaped wide, the petals elliptic with a fringe about long. There are six stamens, the style is curved, about long. Flowering occurs from October to December and the seed is elliptical, about long and in diameter with an orange aril.
Taxonomy
Thysanotus anceps was first formally described in 1840 by John Lindley in his A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony. The specific epithet means 'two-headed', because the type has a double panicle.
Distribution and habitat
This species grows in jarrah - marri forest in lateritic soil in the Darling Range, in the Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status
Thysanotus anceps is listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.