Patersonia graminea
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Grass-leaved patersonia
|image = Patersonia graminea.jpg
|image_caption = Patersonia graminea near Morawa
|genus = Patersonia
|species = graminea
|authority = Benth.{{cite web|title=Patersonia graminea|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/59566|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=22 November 2021}}
|synonyms = Genosiris graminea (Benth.) Kuntze
}}
Patersonia graminea, commonly known as grass-leaved patersonia,{{FloraBase|name=Patersonia graminea|id=1544}} is a species of plant in the iris family Iridaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a clump-forming herb with linear, grass-like leaves and pale violet tepals.
Description
Patersonia graminea is a rhizome-forming herb that forms dense clumps. The leaves are linear, {{cvt|50–160|mm}} long, {{cvt|1–3|mm}} wide, keeled and grass-like. The flowering scape is {{cvt|200–330|mm}} long with the sheath enclosing the flowers lance-shaped, prominently veined, green, glabrous and {{cvt|15–25|mm}} long. The outer tepals are pale purple, {{cvt|20–25|mm}} long and up to {{cvt|20|mm}} wide, and the hypanthium tube is about {{cvt|15|mm}} long and glabrous. Flowering mainly occurs from September to October.{{cite web |title=Patersonia graminea |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Patersonia%20graminea |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra |access-date=22 November 2021}}
Taxonomy and naming
Patersonia graminea was first described in 1873 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis, from specimens collected by James Drummond.{{cite web|title=Patersonia graminea|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/464020|publisher=APNI|access-date=22 November 2020}}{{cite book |last1=Bentham |first1=George |last2=von Mueller |first2=Ferdinand |title=Flora Australiensis |date=1873 |publisher=Lovell Reeve & Co. |location=London |page=408 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/44539#page/414/mode/1up |access-date=22 November 2021}} The specific epithet (graminea) means "grass-like".{{cite book |last1=Sharr |first1=Francis Aubi |last2=George |first2=Alex |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |page=209 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
Grass-leaved patersonia grows in heath and scrub on sandplains and granite outcrops from the coast of south-western Western Australia near the Murchison River to near Watheroo, in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains and Yalgoo biogeographic regions.{{FloraBase|name=Patersonia graminea|id=1544}}
Conservation status
Patersonia graminea is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q15579699}}
Category:Flora of Western Australia