Commemorating William Paterson (1755–1810), Lieutenant Governor of the colony of New South Wales.
Perennial herbs with woody rhizomes, or low subshrubs. Leaves erect, sword-shaped or linear. Scape leafless, erect. Flowers sessile in a dense head with tubes 2-5 cm long concealed by two overlapping spathes, radially symmetrical, short-lived. Outer perianth segments large, equal, spreading; inner segments very small. Stamens with yellow anthers, filaments completely joined into a tube around the style. Style unbranched, longer than stamens; stigma flat, broad, 3 lobed.
20 species, mostly in Australia, also in New Guinea and Timor.
Flowers in head between 2 spathes; 3 showy perianth lobes.
Seed or division.
Cooke (1986).
Source: (2005). Iridaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.