Patersonia pygmaea

Patersonia pygmaea is a species of plant in the iris family Iridaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tufted, rhizome-forming perennial herb with sword-shaped leaves and bluish-violet to purple tepals.

Description

Patersonia pygmaea is a tufted perennial herb that forms a rhizome and has woody stems long. The leaves are glabrous, sword-shaped, long and wide. The flowering scape is long and glabrous and dark brown. The outer tepals are bluish-violet to purple, broadly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide, the hypanthium tube long and glabrous. Flowering occurs from September to October and the fruit is an oval capsule long, containing brown seeds.

Taxonomy and naming

Patersonia pygmaea was first described in 1840 by John Lindley in A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony. The specific epithet means "dwarf".

Distribution and habitat

This patersonia grows in forest and heathland from the Darling Range to the Stirling Range and Albany.

Conservation status

Patersonia pygmaea is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.