#thysanotus

According to Jolanda Keeble who wrote the book on the local flora, and Terry Macfarlane at the WA Herbarium, there are at least 5 twining Fringe-Lillies growing around Wongan Hills, but only one has a formal description, as of 2024 - Thysanotus patersoni.

The one below might be Thysanotus sp. 'Yelbeni'.

And this next one probably Thysanotus sp. 'Lochada'

As with the Thrips, the 'Thysano' part of the name refers to the fringe.

The genus has about 60 species, mostly native to Western Australia. They're perennial herbs with bisexual flowers arranged singly or in groups of up to 50, with 6 mauve or blue tepals. Sometimes the flowers are white, and quite often the plant is a leafless twining climber, as with the three species shown here.

Australia 2015. A fringed lily, somewhere in that same Cape Le Grand NP as a post or 2 ago, although a very similar flower can be found on the other side of the continent in NSW also. I don’t know the species, but it is probably of the genus Thysanotus. Apparently, the tuber of the plant is edible and “crisp tasting”. But don’t try it yourself, unless under the guidance of a local indigenous, as ALL native flora in Australia are strictly protected.

First formally described in 1876 by English botanist John Gilbert Baker in the Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany from specimens collected by James Drummond near the Swan River (haven't seen his name in a while).

The specific epithet arbuscula means 'a small tree or shrub', referring to the habit of the species, although that's optimistic, since adult plants are less than a meter tall and largely leafless.

Endemic to near-coastal areas, in an area about 400km long mostly centred on Perth. It grows in sand, gravel or laterite - in this case sand, since Whiteman Park is all sand, often seasonally wet.

Masses of half-opened flowers on branching stems a meter high. The half-open thing might just mean I caught them early in the flowering season and it's a species I've already discussed, but they were ALL like it, and growing quite thickly along an access road in various shade conditions, and the clump of foliage about 50cm high..