Patersonia

Patersonia, is a genus of plants whose species are commonly known as native iris or native flag and are native to areas from Malesia to Australia.^[2]

Patersonia
Patersonia sericea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Iridaceae
Subfamily:	Patersonioideae Goldblatt
Genus:	Patersonia R.Br.[1]
Type species
Patersonia sericea R.Br.
Synonyms[1]
Genosiris Labill.

Description

They are perennials with basal leaves growing from a woody rhizome that in some species extends above ground to form a short trunk. The leaves are tough and fibrous, often with adaptations for conserving moisture, such as stomata sunk in grooves, a thickened cross-section, marginal hairs, and thickened margins. The flowers appear from between a pair of bracts on a leafless stem. They have three large outer tepals that are usually blue to violet, and three tiny inner tepals. There are three stamens fused at the base to form a tube around the longer style, which bears a flattened stigma.^[3]

Taxonomy

The genus Patersonia was first formally described in 1807 by Robert Brown in the Botanical Magazine.^[4] The genus name is a tribute to the first Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales in Australia, William Paterson, "a gentleman whose name has been long familiar to the naturalist".^[5][6]

Species list

The following is a list of Patersonia species accepted by Plants of the World Online as of October 2021:^[1]

• Patersonia argyrea D.A.Cooke (W.A.)
• Patersonia babianoides Benth. (W.A.)
• Patersonia borneensis Stapf (Borneo)
• Patersonia drummondii F.Muell. ex Benth. – Drummond's patersonia (W.A.)
• Patersonia fragilis (Labill.) Asch. & Graebn. - swamp iris, short purple-flag (S.A., Qld., N.S.W., Vic., Tas.)
• Patersonia glabrata R.Br. - leafy purple flag, bugulbi (Qld., N.S.W., Vic.)
• Patersonia graminea Benth. – grass-leaved patersonia (W.A.)
• Patersonia inaequalis Benth. – unequal bract patersonia (W.A.)
• Patersonia inflexa Goldblatt (Papua New Guinea)
• Patersonia juncea Lindl. – rush-leaved patersonia (W.A.)
• Patersonia lanata R.Br. – woolly patersonia (W.A.)
• Patersonia limbata Endl. (W.A.)
• Patersonia lowii Stapf (Borneo)
• Patersonia macrantha Benth. (N.T.)
• Patersonia maxwellii (F.Muell.) F.Muell. ex Benth. (W.A.)
• Patersonia neocaledonica Goldblatt & J.C.Manning (New Caledonia)
• Patersonia novoguineensis Gibbs (New Guinea)
• Patersonia occidentalis R.Br. (W.A., S.A., Vic., Tas.)
• Patersonia philippinensis Goldblatt (Mindoro, Mindanao and Sibuyan, Philippines)
• Patersonia pygmaea Lindl. (W.A.)
• Patersonia rudis Endl. (W.A.)
  • Petersonia rudis Endl. subsp. rudis
  • Petersonia rudis subsp. velutina D.A.Cooke
• Patersonia sericea R.Br.
  • Patersonia sericea var. longifolia (R.Br.) C.Moore – purple flag (N.S.W., Vic.)
  • Patersonia sericea R.Br. var. sericea – silky purple-flag (Qld., N.S.W., Vic.)
• Patersonia spirafolia Keighery (W.A.)
• Patersonia sumatrensis Goldblatt (Sumatra)
• Patersonia umbrosa Endl. (W.A.)