Patersonia fragilis

Patersonia fragilis is a flowering plant in the Iridaceae family. It is referred to by the common names short purple flag or swamp iris, and is a herbaceous perennial native to southeastern Australia.
Description.
Patersonia fragilis is a flowering perennial herb which grows in tufts or tussocks.
Leaves.
The leaves of Patersonia fragilis are often linear, 20-60 cm long and 1-6mm wide with a biconvex to terete cross-section. Grooved and glabrous surface (a surface that is smooth, without hair or projections) covered in a grey, blue or white waxy powdery coating known as glaucous that is easily rubbed off but protects the plant from harm.
Scape.
Patersonia fragilis possesses scapes that are 4-25 cm long with a smooth texture and striations (made up of repeating units) “clasped with a reduced leaf”.
Spathes.
It has a lanceolate shape with a length of 2.5-4.5 cm, varying from a green to pale brown colour which turns into dark brown around the edges. Similar to the leaves, the spathes have a grooved and glabrous surface.
Flower.
The base of the inflorescence is 5-9 mm wide with enclosed inner bracts, with a floral tube of 2.5-3.5 cm in length that is glabrous and slightly exserted.
Sepals.
They have an obovate to rhomboid shape and is around 1.2-2.3 cm in length and 1-1.5 cm in width (Cooke 1986). The colour can range from pale violet to a mix of blue and violet.
Petals.
There are 3 petals on the flower that are blue-violet and arranged in an actinomorphic pattern (it is symmetrical in 2 or more planes). The petals are also sessile (does not have a stalk) and usually withers after a short while.
Filaments and anther.
They are around 2-3 mm in length, and they come together at a single point which supports the anther. The anther has a yellow colour and has a basifixed shape.
The characteristics of each Patersonia fragilis varies greatly from plant to plant and it includes the width and colour of leaves, colour of spathes as well as the size of the flowers,  all of which has little association to the location that they grow in. Meaning that plants of the same species growing in the same location may have different characteristics.
Life Cycle.
The "Patersonia fragilis" is a flowering plant that reproduces through the classic bee pollination. Unlike the zygomorphic yellow flowers, according to the study by Faegri and van der Pijl, bees are not commonly as attracted to purple zygomorphic flowers. This problem is highlighted by the unique characteristic of yellow flowers that provides nectar guides, which outlines a path for bees to squeeze through to obtain the nectar. Being a flowering plant, the "Patersonia fragilis" follows the same process of pollination and fertilisation in continuation of the life cycle of the plant.
Ecology.
As a flowing plant, the "Patersonia fragilis" is amongst the most diverse classification of land plants. They are distinguished from the likes of gymnosperm that are seed-producing plants with their inherent structure of an endosperm. With approximately 300,000 known species of flowing plants, the "Patersonia fragilis" is one of the species amongst the "Patersonia" genus that consists of about 20 species. Other common species include the "Patersonia sericea, Patersonia maxwellii" and "Patersonia occidentalis" to name a few.
"Patersonia fragilis" is commonly found in the Kangaroo Islands along the coast of South-Eastern Queensland. It also grows in other states of Australia including the southern tablelands of NSW, the wallum heaths of Tasmania and southern Victoria. Through a recent botanical survey on the Nelson Bay River, a localised community of "Patersonia fragilis" was found. It is amongst a group of vegetation communities including the Western Wet Scrub and the Eucalyptus nitida Wet Forest. The "Patersonia fragilis", however, was in the Wet Heathlands. In this community of flora, it is dominated by the Swamp Heath "Sprengelia incarnata" that is surviving despite the dry ground. This plant grows to a maximum of 1.5 metres in height and is often surrounded by empty ground where there is a common absence of large shrubs and trees. The "Patersonia fragilis" is amongst other species of plants in the Wet heathland, and though the diversity of associated species is limited, the community commonly consist of the "Leptocarpus tenax", "Selaginella uglinosa", "Melaleuca squamea" and "Xyris sp."
Outside of Australia, populations of "Patersonia" can be found in Malesia as well as in the mountain ranges of Mount Kinabalu. In both of these areas, the plant thrives and survives in high altitude environment where oxygen is scarce. Commonly it is at elevations above 1500m above sea level that this species of plant grows. The exception would be the "Patersonia Lowii" that grows at elevations above 2000m of sea level. The six common "Patersonia" species in this area are allopatric, meaning, although each are situated in the same locality, they occur in non-overlapping geographic regions. An example would be between the "Patersonia Borneensis" and "Patersonia Lowii" where they are separated and isolated by an excess of hundreds of kilometres between them although both are naturally occurring in Mount Kinabalu. Another unique feature of the Malesian species of "Patersonia" is that they differ morphologically to other "Patersonia" occurring in the other parts of the world. This difference can be attributed to the molecular clock where over 55 million years of evolution, the "Patersonia" in Malesia diverged from its immediate sister lineage in other parts of the world. Although "Patersonia" species are well scattered throughout the world including the Philippines and Gunung Leuser in the Northern Sumatra, the centre for diverse species of "Patersonia" remains in Australia. The widespread existence of "Patersonia" is throughout Australia, but its diversity can be observed in Western Australia.