Purple flag

Appearance

The purple flag is a densely-tufted perennial herb growing to a height of up to 60 cm. It has linear, sword-shaped, grass-like green leaves 120–600 mm long and 1–6 mm wide. The flowering scape is 3–55 cm long with the sheath enclosing the flowers egg-shaped to lance-shaped, dark brown to blackish, prominently veined and 20–60 mm long. The outer tepals are bluish-violet, 20–30 mm long and 15–25 mm wide, the inner tepals about 2 mm long and the stamen filaments 4–6 mm 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 long.

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"". The specific epithet is derived from the Latin word "sericus" meaning "silken", referring to the hairs at the base of the juvenile leaves.

The names of two varieties of "P. sericea" are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
⤷  "Patersonia sericea" var. "longifolia" C.Moore has leaves 1–2 mm wide and mostly smooth with hairs on the edges turned inwards against the surface;
⤷  "Patersonia sericea" R.Br. var. "sericea" has leaves 1.5–6 mm wide, the edges lacking the reflexed hairs of var. "longifolia".

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

Distribution

Purple flag 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.

Silky purple-flag 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.

Status

"Patersonia sericea" is not considered to be at risk in the wild.

Habitat

Purple flag 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.

Silky purple-flag 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."Patersonia sericea" is used as larval food by two species of butterfly, the eastern iris-skipper " and montane iris-skipper ".

Cultural

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.