Plants of
South Australia
Patersonia occidentalis
Iridaceae
Long Purple-flag
Display all 5 images
Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
Enlarge Map
Copy Map
Copy Map
Display IBRA region text

Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 4

Prior names

Genosiris occidentalis

Patersonia longiscapa

Etymology

Patersonia named after William Paterson (1755-1810), an early botanical collector in Australia and Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales from 1800-1810. Occidentalis from the Latin 'occidens' meaning of the west, referring to the location of the type specimen from Western Australia.

Distribution and status

Found on Kangaroo Island, southern Mount Lofty Ranges and the lower South-east in South Australia, growing in heath and in clearings within scrub and woodland on poorly drained sites. Also found in Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Rare in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Murray, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Tufted herb to 70 cm high forming clumps or large colonies. Leaves in fan-shaped clusters of 4-10, linear, to 55 cm long and 10 mm wide; glabrous, except margin sometimes with brown hairs. Inflorescence a single blue-violet flower at the tip of a stalk that is longer than the leaves. Flowering between October and December. Fruits are long brown cylindrical capsule to 2.5 cm long. Seeds are brown compressed-ovoid seed to 3 mm long and 1.2 mm wide. Seed embryo type is linear under-developed.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between December and March. Collect mature capsules, those that are drying off and turning brown with hard brown seeds inside. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the capsules gently by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 100%. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
2,600 (5 g)
2,600 (5 g)
402-Mar-2005DJD120
Southern Lofty
28-Mar-2006100%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.