Thysanotus pseudojunceus
Thysanotus pseudojunceus is a species of flowering plant in the Asparagaceae family, and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is usually a leafless perennial herb with a short rhizome, fibrous roots and umbels of two to five purple flowers with lance-shaped sepals, elliptic, fringed petals and six stamens of differing lengths.
Description
Thysanotus pseudojunceus is a perennial herb with a short rhizome, fibrous roots and usually no leaves, but occasionally four or five terete leaves long. The stems are low-lying and branched, long. The flowers are borne in umbels of two to five, each flower on a pedicel long. The flowers are purple, the perianth segments long. The sepals are lance-shaped, about wide and the petals are elliptic, about wide with a fringe long. There are six stamens with twisted anthers, the outer anthers long, the inner ones long and curved. The style is curved, about long. Flowering occurs from November to December or January, and the seeds are elliptic, about long and in diameter with a stalked, dull orange aril.
Taxonomy
Thysanotus pseudojunceus was first formally described in 1960 by Norman Henry Brittan in the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia from specimens he collected south of Kulin in 1954. The meaning of the specific epithet means 'like a reed',.
Distribution and habitat
This species of Thysanotus grows in clayey or peaty sand, loam or on granite, often in winter-wet places, in jarrah forest, between Albany and the mouth of the Blackwood River in the Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status
Thysanotus pseudojunceus is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.