Lomatia tinctoria
{{Short description|Species of shrub}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Guitar plant
|image = Lomatia tinctoria.JPG
|image_caption = Lomatia tinctoria in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
|genus = Lomatia
|species = tinctoria
|authority = (Labill.) R.Br.{{cite web|title=Lomatia tinctoria|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/95492|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=1 May 2021}}
}}
Lomatia tinctoria, commonly known as guitar plant,{{cite web |title=Lomatia tinctoria |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Lomatia%20tinctoria |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra |access-date=31 March 2023}} is a shrub to about 2 metres tall of the family Proteaceae. It is one of three species of Lomatia endemic to Tasmania, the others being L. polymorpha and L. tasmanica. Lomatia tinctoria is closely related to L. polymorpha, with which it sometimes hybridises. Its leaves are divided, while those of L. polymorpha are simple.
Description
Lomatia tinctoria grows as a woody shrub reaching 1.5 m (5 ft) high, or rarely up to 2 m (7 ft) high. The leaves are strongly lobed (pinnate or bipinnate) and are around 8 cm long. The white or cream flower heads, known as inflorescences, appear in summer.
The common name of guitar plant may refer to the shape of the fruit.{{cite web|title=What's in a Name?|url=http://www.friendsanbg.org.au/_ARCHIVE_oldweb/articles/articlesnov02.html|last1=Burns|first1=Dick|publisher=Friends of the Australian National Botanic Gardens|access-date=7 January 2015}}
Taxonomy and naming
French naturalist Jacques Labillardière first described this species as Embothrium tinctorium in 1805, with the species name, Latin tinctoria "used in dyeing", relating to a product in the fruit that can be used for dyeing.{{APNI | name = Embothrium tinctorium Labill. | id = 58081}} At the time, Embothrium was a wastebasket taxon to which many proteaceae were assigned.{{cite book | last = Wrigley | first = John |author2=Fagg, Murray | title = Banksias, Waratahs and Grevilleas | year = 1991 | publisher = Angus & Robertson | location = Sydney | isbn = 0-207-17277-3|pages = 447, 452}} It was given its current binomial name by Robert Brown in his 1810 On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae.{{APNI | name = Lomatia tinctoria (Labill.) R.Br. | id = 41602}} An alternative name, Tricondylus silaifolius, published by Joseph Knight in his 1809 On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae, was rejected,{{APNI | name = Tricondylus tinctorius (Sm.) Knight | id = 43072 }} after Brown's 1810 description of the genus Lomatia was officially conserved against Salisbury's 1809 Tricondylus.
Distribution and habitat
Lomatia tinctoria is found in north eastern Tasmania, "mostly north and east of the Pieman and Derwent rivers and on Cape Barren and on and Flinders Islands". Lomatia polymorpha occurs "approximately south of the Pieman River and west of the Derwent River"{{cite web|last1=Wilson|first1=A.J.G.|last2=Hewson|first2=Helen J.|last3=Mowatt|first3=J.|title=Lomatia polymorpha|url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/online-resources/flora/stddisplay.xsql?pnid=45148|access-date=7 January 2015}} but where the ranges overlap, as for example near Lake St Clair, apparent hybrids occur, even though the leaves of the two species are "strikingly different".{{cite web|title=L. tinctoria x polymorpha|url=http://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/PROTS/sLomatia_tinctoria.htm|last1=Jordan|first1=Greg|date=2011|access-date=7 January 2015}}
File:Lomatia tinctoria (fruit).JPG
Use in horticulture
Lomatia tinctoria can be grown in gardens, doing best on acidic well-drained soils, and tolerating sunny or shady locations.{{cite book | last1=Elliot | first1=Rodger W. | last2=Jones | first2=David L. | last3=Blake | first3=Trevor |title=Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation:Volume 6 - K–M|year=1993 |publisher=Lothian Press |location=Port Melbourne, Victoria |isbn=0-85091-589-9|page=234}} It is readily propagated from seed or cuttings.
References
{{Reflist}}
External sources
- http://apps.kew.org/herbcat/getImage.do?imageBarcode=K000324612
- {{cite book|last1=Curtis|first1=Samuel|title=Curtis's Botanical Magazine Volume 70|date=1844|publisher=Edward Couchman|location=London|pages=255}} available as eBook
- {{cite book|last1=Sprawson|first1=Warwick|title=The Overland Track|date=2010|publisher=Red Dog|isbn=9781742035116|pages=185}}
- {{cite book|last1=Gardiner|first1=Jim|title=The Timber Press Encyclopedia of Flowering Shrubs|date=2011|publisher=Timber Press|location=Portland, [Or.]|isbn=9780881928235|pages=226|edition=1.}}
- Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) http://anpsa.org.au/l-tin.html
{{Taxonbar|from=Q18043202}}
Category:Proteales of Australia
Category:Plants described in 1810