Common name: Powdery Thalia
Thalia dealbata Fraser ex Roscoe APNI* Description: Perennial herb to 2.5 m high.
Basal leaves 2–5; blade ovate, occasionally narrowly elliptic, 17–55 cm long, 7–22 cm wide, stiff-papery, base rounded, rarely obtuse, apex acuminate; upper surface pillose to rarely villous in basal 0.5–1 cm of blade, including midrib, at apex, and along margin of broader side, lower surface pruinose, glabrous; sheath pruinose, glabrous; petiole pruinose, glabrous; pulvinus yellowish brown to red or purple-brown, 0.6–2.5 cm long, glabrous.
Inflorescences panicle-like, 9–31 cm long; scapes 0.5–1.9 m long; rachis pruinose; bracts markedly pruinose, appearing whitish, red-brown to red-purple beneath waxy coating, orbiculate, strongly cupped, 0.8–1.5 cm, stiff, leathery, glabrous. Flowers: sepals 1.5–2.5 mm long; outer staminode dark purple, 12–15 mm long; callose staminode base white to pale purple, margins and apex dark purple, apical rim reduced, petal-like.
Capsule nearly globose to broadly obovoid, 9–12 mm long. Seeds dark brown to black, nearly globose to broadly ellipsoid, 8–10 mm long.
Distribution and occurrence: Recorded as growing in the Seaham Swamp Nature Reserve, Lake Macquarie. Grown as an aquatic ornamental. Native to North America. In its native range it is recorded from swamps, streamsides, roadside ditches, and ponds.
NSW subdivisions: *NC
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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