Patersonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (order Asparagales), native to the Malesian region and Australia, where species are commonly known as native iris or native flag. The genus comprises around 24 accepted species distributed across mainland Australia, Tasmania, Borneo, the Philippines, New Guinea, Sumatra, and New Caledonia, with the greatest diversity in Western Australia.
Plants are rhizomatous perennials with tough, fibrous basal leaves arising from a woody rhizome. In some species the rhizome extends above ground to form a short trunk-like structure. The leaves show various adaptations for conserving moisture, including stomata sunk in grooves, thickened cross-sections, marginal hairs, and thickened margins. Flowers are borne on leafless stems between a pair of bracts and are characteristically iris-like: three large outer tepals, typically blue to violet (occasionally white or yellow), and three much smaller inner tepals. Three stamens are fused at their bases into a tube surrounding a longer style tipped with a flattened stigma.
The genus was first formally described in 1807 by Robert Brown in the Botanical Magazine. The name honours William Paterson, the first Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales, whom Brown described as "a gentleman whose name has been long familiar to the naturalist." Notable species include Patersonia sericea (silky purple-flag) of eastern Australia, Patersonia occidentalis of south-western and southern Australia, and Patersonia fragilis (swamp iris), which ranges from South Australia through to Tasmania.
Etymology
The genus name Patersonia was coined by Robert Brown in 1807 as a tribute to William Paterson, the first Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales in Australia. Brown described Paterson as "a gentleman whose name has been long familiar to the naturalist."
Distribution
Patersonia species are native to a range extending from Malesia (including Borneo, Sumatra, the Philippines, and New Guinea) through to Australia and New Caledonia. The genus reaches its greatest diversity in Western Australia, with species also found in South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory.
Taxonomy Notes
The genus was first formally described in 1807 by Robert Brown in the Botanical Magazine. It is placed in the family Iridaceae, order Asparagales. The species list accepted by Plants of the World Online includes around 24 species, ranging from Australian endemics to species with Malesian distributions, reflecting a biogeographic affinity with South-East Asia and the Pacific.
