Patersonia macrantha

Patersonia macrantha is a species of plant in the iris family Iridaceae and is endemic to the northern part of the Northern Territory. It is a tuft-forming herb with linear to sword-shaped leaves and pale violet tepals.

Patersonia macrantha
In Kakadu National Park
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Genus: Patersonia
Species:
P. macrantha
Binomial name
Patersonia macrantha
Synonyms[1]
  • Genosiris macrantha (Benth.) Kuntze
Habit

Description

Patersonia macrantha is a tuft-forming herb with flat, linear to sword-shaped leaves 180–450 mm (7.1–17.7 in) long and 4–9 mm (0.16–0.35 in) wide. The flowering scape is 220–500 mm (8.7–19.7 in) long, smooth and softly-hairy near the tip, and the sheath enclosing the flowers is elliptic, 43–68 mm (1.7–2.7 in) long and pale brown. The outer tepals are pale violet, egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, or elliptic, 30–40 mm (1.2–1.6 in) long and 25–30 mm (0.98–1.18 in) wide. Flowering occurs from January to March.[2]

Taxonomy and naming

Patersonia macrantha was first described in 1846 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis.[3] Bentham recorded that the type specimens were collected in the Darling Range by Alexander Collie.[4] However, the sheet bearing the type specimens in the Kew Herbarium was inscribed "Armstrong, Port Essington" in W.J. Hooker's handwriting, later crossed out by Bentham with a note "probably Darling Range, Collie (the loose scape was with the Darling Range occidentalis)".[5] The specific epithet (macrantha) means "large-flowered".[6]

Distribution and habitat

This patersonia is widespread in the northern part of the Northern Territory where it grows in forest and woodland.[2][7]

Conservation status

Patersonia macrantha is classified as "least concern" under the Northern Territory Government Northern Territory Government Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976.[7]

References
  1. "Patersonia macrantha". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  2. "Patersonia limbata". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  3. "Patersonia macrantha". APNI. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  4. Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1873). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 6. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 321. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  5. Francis, William D. (1931). "XLII Miscellaneous Notes - The habitat of Patersonia macrantha". Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew). 5: 285–286. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  6. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 246. ISBN 9780958034180.
  7. "Patersonia macrantha". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
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