Scientific Name: Patersonia fragilis

Common Name: short purpleflag

Family Classification (Clade): Monocots

Family: Iridaceae

Form Description: Tufted or tussock forming herb. Flower stems shorter than the leaves.

Height (m): 0.15 – 0.3

Flowers: Blue-mauve, 6-lobed. 3 outer lobes: large, rounded, spreading; 3 inner: tiny and erect.

Fruit: Papery capsule – angular, breaking into 3 segments, curling back still enclosed in big brown bracts. Capsule contains many seeds which change from cream to red-brown at maturity.

Municipality
Break O’DayBurnieCentral CoastCentral HighlandsCircular HeadClarenceDerwent ValleyDorsetFlindersGeorge TownGlamorgan-Spring BayHuon ValleyKentishKing IslandKingboroughLatrobeLauncestonMeander ValleyNorthern MidlandsTasmanWaratah-WynyardWest CoastWest Tamar
Plant Communities
Coastal VegetationHeath
Habitat Notes

Common on sandy or gravelly soils near coasts, frequent in wet parts of coastal heaths.

Site Tolerance

Moist

Soil Tolerance

Loam, Nutrient-poor, Sandy, Well-drained

Propagation Calendar

  • Flowering Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
  • Seed Collecting Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
  • Sowing Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
  • Cutting Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Propagation Method
Seed, Division

Seed Information

Seed Treatment Method

Smoke Smoke treatment improves germination in some species. Smokey products, e.g. smokey vermiculite, can be purchased and applied to the sown seed, or sown seeds can be treated directly with smoke from a source such as a drum with a fire and hose.

Seed Treatment Notes

Conflicting information: some sources report that most species have low viability. Smoke treatment may improve germination. Other sources say that for most species propagation is easy from seed, which is usually set in profusion.

Cutting & Division Information

Usually propagated by division.