Lomatia tinctoria

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Internal links:             Angiosperms > Eudicots > Basal Eudicots > Proteales > Proteaceae > Lomatia tinctoria

External links:     Angiosperms > Eudicots > Basal Eudicots > Proteales > Proteaceae > Lomatia tinctoria

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots > Lomatia tinctoria > Proteales > Proteaceae > Lomatia tinctori

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:        Guitar plant (refers to the shape of the fruit)

Etymology:   

Flowers:                  

• The white or cream flower heads, known as inflorescences, appear in summer.

Fruit:                         

• x

Leaves:         

• The leaves are strongly lobed (pinnate or bipinnate) and are around 8 cm long

Stem & branches: 

•  x

Roots:         

• x

Habit:        

• A woody shrub up to about 2 m tall 

Habitat:   

• It grows in subalpine woodlands, lowland scrubby vegetation in wetter areas, and occasionally in rainforest 

Distribution:                  

•  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" 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".

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Species:                     

• World:            S,    G

• Australia:      S,    G

Additional notes:        

• 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.

• Lomatia tinctoria can be grown in gardens, doing best on acidic well-drained soils, and tolerating sunny or shady locations. It is readily propagated from seed or cuttings.