Trochocarpa thymifolia
{{Short description|Species of plant}}
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| image = Pressed Trochocarpa thymifolia.jpg
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| genus = Trochocarpa
| species = thymifolia
| authority = (R.Br.) Spreng.{{cite web|title=Trochocarpa thymifolia|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/86582|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=21 March 2022}}
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Trochocarpa thymifolia is a species of flowering plant from the family Ericacae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a widespread alpine and subalpine shrub with small leaves, pink to red flowers and blue to purple fruit. Originally described by botanist Robert Brown in 1810, it is a widespread Tasmanian endemic that inhabits the state's mountain regions.
Description
Mature plants form erect, bushy shrubs growing to around 1m in height. Leaves are small (2–4 mm long), densely-packed, ovate to elliptic in shape and are alternate in arrangement. The succulent leaves are dark green, with a red tinge around the margins and are slightly lighter green on the underside. Parallel venation is clear on the abaxial surface (underside) of the leaf which is a distinguishing characteristic of the Ericaceae family.{{Cite web |title=Species Information: Trochocarpa thymifolia |url=https://www.utas.edu.au/docs/plant_science/field_botany/species/dicots/epacrsp/trocthym.html |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=www.utas.edu.au}} The tubular flowers possess 5 lobes, of about 4mm in length and range from pink to red in colour. Inflorescences form a dense cluster of drooping terminal spikes that are 1.5 cm long with the yellow filaments of the stamens being prominent sitting just outside of the floral tube.{{Cite web |title=Key to Tasmanian Dicots |url=https://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/EPACRIDS/sTrochocarpa_thymifolia.htm |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=www.utas.edu.au}} Fruits are spherical, fleshy and present in a blue to purple/mauve colour at approximately 8 mm in diameter.{{Cite web |title=Trochocarpa thymifolia |url=https://www.alpinegardensociety.net/ |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=Alpine Garden Society |language=en}} Fruits and flowers typically occur simultaneously, creating stunning displays of contrasting colours and textures alongside the neat foliage.{{Cite journal|last=Gibbs|first=L.S.|date=1920|title=Notes on the Phytogeography and Flora of the Mountain Summit Plateaux of Tasmania|jstor=2255528|journal=Journal of Ecology|publisher=British Ecology Society|volume=8|issue=2|pages=89–117|doi=10.2307/2255528|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1449446}}
Taxonomy
This taxon was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown who gave it the name Diaspora thymifolia in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.{{cite web |title=Diaspora thymifolia |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/502394 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |accessdate=22 March 2022}}{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Robert |title=Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805 |date=1810 |page=548 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21871#page/416/mode/1up |access-date=21 March 2022}} In 1824, Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel changed the name to Trochocapra thymifolia in Systema Vegetabilium.{{cite web |title=Trochocarpa thymifolia |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/506126 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |accessdate=22 March 2022}}{{cite book |last1=Sprengel |first1=Kurt P.J. |title=Systema Vegetabilium |date=1824 |page=660 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/30757#page/666/mode/1up |access-date=21 March 2022}} The specific epithet (thymifolia) means "thyme-leaved".{{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=324 |edition=3rd}}
Species differentiation
Trochocarpa thymifolia is distinguished from the other three rainforest species of Trochocarpa occurring in Tasmania by its leaves that are only {{cvt|2–4|mm}} long.{{Cite web |title=Key to Tasmanian Dicots |url=http://www.utas.edu.au/dicotkey/dicotkey/EPACRIDS/gTrochocarpa.htm |access-date=2016-03-23 |website=www.utas.edu.au}}
Habitat and distribution
File:Distribution of Trochocarpa thymifolia from Atlas of Living Australia.pngTrochocarpa thymifolia is widespread in Tasmania, often found in alpine heaths, open subalpine forests woodlands and occasionally inhabiting sites that are more exposed amidst dolerite boulders.{{Cite web |title=Trochocarpa thymifolia |url=https://www.apstas.org.au/flora-1/trochocarpa-thymifolia |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Australian Plants Society Tasmania inc |language=en-US}} The species favours areas that have acidic soils, are well drained and moist in its environment.
The species is widespread around the state clustering in alpine zones above the tree line. This range in altitude varies across the state from 750m in the southwest to 1400m in the northeast.{{Cite journal |last=Kirckpatrick |first=J.B |date=1982 |title=Phytogeographical analysis of Tasmanian alpine floras |journal=Journal of Biogeography |volume=9 |pages=255–271 |via=Google Scholar}} Populations are largely located at Mount Field, Mount Wellington (Kunanyi), Tasman and Southwest National Parks in the south and Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair, Walls of Jerusalem and Ben Lomond National Parks in the north.
References
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Category:Endemic flora of Tasmania