1979/01/01 by Peter Goldblatt
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Plant Diversity and Evolution #Plant Pathogens and Resistance #Plant Taxonomy and Phylogenetics
paper · doi:10.2307/2398924
openalex publication_date 1979/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Native Australasian Iridaceae are poorly known cytologically with only Libertia, x = 19, w studied.In other genera Patersonia is shown to have n = 11 (not 12 as previously reported), 21 And 31, Diplarrhena has n = 6, and Orthrosanthus laxus, a high polyploid, n -7 he only non-African species of Dietes, D. robinsoniana, from Lord Howe Island, has n -10 wh h agrees with x = 10 known for the African species.An artificial hybrid D. robinsoniana x D. iridioides also has n = 10.Affinities of the Autralasian Iridaceae are discussed in relation to the cytology and morphology.There are five or perhaps six native genera and some 26 species of Iridaceae in Australasia, few compared to the other southern continents where the family is well represented.Two Australasian genera, Libertia and Orthrosanthus are shared with South America and one, Dietes, with Africa, while Diplarrhena, Patersonia, and also Isophysis (if this is admitted to the family) are endemic.