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Scientific Name
Patersonia fragilis
Family Name
IRIDACEAE
Common Name
Short Purple-flag or Blue Iris
Status
Height
leaves 0.15m - 0.3m (15-30cm)
Flowers
Blue-mauve, 6-lobed. 3 outer lobes; large, rounded, spreading,3 inner; tiny and erect.
Fruit
Papery capsule
Form
Tufted or tussock forming herb.
Municipalities
Break O'Day; Burnie; Central Coast; Central Highlands; Circular Head; Clarence; Derwent Valley; Dorset; Flinders Island; Georgetown; Glamorgan-Spring Bay; Huon Valley; Kentish; King Island; Kingborough; Latrobe; Launceston; Meander Valley; Northern Midlands; Tasman; Waratah-Wynyard; West Coast; West Tamar
Communities
Coastal Vegetation; Heath
Habitat Notes
Common on sandy or gravelly soils near coasts, frequent in wet parts of coastal heaths.
Site Tolerance
Moist
Frost Tolerance
Soil Tolerance
Loam; Phosphorous intolerant; Poor; Sandy; Well-drained
General Notes
Suitable below powerlines.
Propagation Details
Propagation Calendar
Flowering Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Seed Collecting Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Sowing Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Cutting Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Seed Information
Seed Collection
Fruit an angular capsule, breaking into 3 segments, curling back still enclosed in big brown bracts. each capsule contains many seeds which change from cream to red-brown at maturity
Seed Treatment Method
Smoke
Seed Storage Life
Viable Seeds Per Gram
Seed Treatment Notes
Conflicting information: some sources report that most species have low viability. Smoke treatment may improve germination. While other sources say that for most species propagation is easy from seed, which is usually set in profusion
Germination Time
Suitable for Direct Seeding
Cuttings
Expected Time to Take Root
Expected Time to Plant Out
Propagation by Division
N.B. Transplant only from nearby to avoid disease.
Yes
Cutting Notes
Usually propagated by division.
Copyright 2000-2009, Understorey Network Incorporated. Updated 2024-10-14
Database development and website design by
Andrew Smith