Woolly Patersonia

Patersonia lanata is a tufted perennial herb with sword-shaped leaves 150–400 mm (5.9–15.7 in) long, 2–7 mm (0.079–0.276 in) wide and is glabrous apart from woolly hairs near the edges of the leaf base. The flowering scape is 120–400 mm (4.7–15.7 in) long and the sheaths enclosing the flowers are triangular, 25–32 mm (0.98–1.26 in) long and dark brown. The petal-like sepals are bluish violet, broadly elliptic, 20–30 mm (0.79–1.18 in) long and 18–27 mm (0.71–1.06 in) wide and the stamens filaments are 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long joined for most of their length. Flowering occurs from July to November and the fruit is an oval capsule about 20 mm (0.79 in) long containing wrinkled seeds about 2.5 mm (0.098 in) long.

Woolly patersonia grows in heath on the coastal plain of southern Western Australia between Two Peoples Bay and Israelite Bay in the Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Mallee biogeographic regions. Both forms occur in the same range, but f. calvata is less common.

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