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Purple flag
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Iridaceae
Genus:	Patersonia
Species:	P. sericea
Binomial name
	Patersonia sericea; R.Br.
Synonyms
	Genosiris sericea (R.Br.) F.Muell.; Patersonia subalpina F.Muell.;

Patersonia sericea, commonly known as purple flag^[2] or silky purple-flag^[3] is a species of plant in the iris family Iridaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a densely-tufted perennial herb with linear, sword-shaped leaves, broadly egg-shaped, bluish-violet tepals and an oval capsule.

Description

The purple flag is a densely-tufted perennial herb growing to a height of up to 60 cm (24 in). It has linear, sword-shaped, grass-like green leaves 120–600 mm (4.7–23.6 in) long and 1–6 mm (0.039–0.236 in) wide. The flowering scape is 3–55 cm (1.2–21.7 in) long with the sheath enclosing the flowers egg-shaped to lance-shaped, dark brown to blackish, prominently veined and 20–60 mm (0.79–2.36 in) long. The outer tepals are bluish-violet, 20–30 mm (0.79–1.18 in) long and 15–25 mm (0.59–0.98 in) wide, the inner tepals about 2 mm (0.079 in) long and the stamen filaments 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long and joined for part of their length. Flowering mainly occurs from June to November, each flower open for one day, but each stem producing many flowers. The fruit is an oval capsule 15–25 mm (0.59–0.98 in) long.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Taxonomy and naming

Patersonia sericea was first described in 1807 by Robert Brown in Curtis's Botanical Magazine, from specimens "...furnished us by Messrs. Lee and Kennedy, of Hammersmith, West London who received the seeds, from which they raised it, from Port Jackson".^[7]^[8] The specific epithet (sericea) is derived from the Latin word sericus meaning "silken",^[9] referring to the hairs at the base of the juvenile leaves.^[10]

The names of two varieties of P. sericea are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

Patersonia sericea var. longifolia (R.Br.) C.Moore^[11] has leaves 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) wide and mostly smooth with hairs on the edges turned inwards against the surface;^[12]
Patersonia sericea R.Br. var. sericea^[13] has leaves 1.5–6 mm (0.059–0.236 in) wide, the edges lacking the reflexed hairs of var. longifolia.^[12]

Patersonia longifolia was described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen^[14]^[15] but reduced to a variety in 1893 by Charles Moore in the Handbook of the Flora of New South Wales.^[16]

Distribution and habitat

Purple flag (var. longifolia) grows in open forest and heath on the coast and ranges on soils derived from sandstone, from the Hunter River in New South Wales to the Genoa River in far north-eastern Victoria.^[2]^[17]^[18]

Silky purple-flag (var. sericea) is found in forest, woodland and heath on the coast and tablelands, and grows on soils derived from sandstone or granite, in south-eastern Queensland, eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria.^[3]^[19]^[20]

Conservation

Patersonia sericea is not considered to be at risk in the wild.^[10]

Use in horticulture

It is a reliable species in cultivation, thriving in hot, dry situations and is also frost tolerant. It is useful grown en masse in a bed of perennial plants.^[21]

Ecology

Patersonia sericea is used as larval food by two species of butterfly, the eastern iris-skipper (Mesodina halyzia) and montane iris-skipper (Mesodina aeluropis).^[22]

References

^ ^a ^b "Patersonia sericea". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Patersonia sericea var. longifolia". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Patersonia sericea var. sericea". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ Conn, Barry J. "Patersonia sericea". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ "Patersonia sericea". Australian Native Plants Society (Australia(. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ "Patersonia sericea". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ "Patersonia sericea". APNI. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
^ Brown, Robert; Sims, John (ed.) (1807). "Patersonia sericea". Botanical Magazine. 26: 1041. Retrieved 5 November 2021. {{cite journal}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
^ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 697.
^ ^a ^b "Patersonia sericea". Australian Native Plant Society (Australia). Retrieved 27 February 2015.
^ "Patersonia sericea var. longifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b Sauquet, Hervé. "Patersonia sericea". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
^ "Patersonia sericea var. sericea". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ "Patersonia longifolia". APNI. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
^ Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805. Vol. 1. London. p. 303. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ "Patersonia sericea var. longifolia". APNI. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
^ "Patersonia sericea var. longifolia". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ Conn, Barry J. "Patersonia sericea var. longifolia". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ Conn, Barry J. "Patersonia sericea var. sericea". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ "Patersonia sericea var. sericea". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^ "Patersonia species". Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
^ Braby, Michael F. (2004). The complete field guide to butterflies of Australia (Reprinted with corrections. ed.). Collingwood, Vic.: CSIRO. p. 86. ISBN 0643090274. Retrieved 5 November 2021.