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Genus of flowering plants From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Libertia is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1824.[2] It is native to South America, Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand. Eight species are endemic to New Zealand.[1][3][4]
Libertia | |
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Libertia chilensis | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Iridaceae |
Subfamily: | Iridoideae |
Tribe: | Sisyrinchieae |
Genus: | Libertia Spreng. 1824, conserved name not Dumort. 1822 (syn of Hosta) nor Lej. 1825 (syn of Bromus) |
Type species | |
Libertia ixioides (Forster f.) Spreng. | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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Libertia is made up of herbaceous or evergreen perennials growing from short rhizomes,[2] with simple, linear or narrowly lanceolate basal leaves which are often green but may be red, orange, or yellow under direct sunlight.[5] The showy white or blue trimerous flowers are open in spring and are followed by capsules opening by three valves which contain the numerous seeds.[6]
The genus was named after the Belgian botanist Marie-Anne Libert[7] (1782–1865) (also referred to as Anne-Marie Libert).[8]
The species Libertia chilensis has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[9][10]
Numerous names have been coined using the name Libertia, referring to species that are now regarded as better suited to other genera (Bromus Cardiocrinum Hosta Orthrosanthus).
Libertia has a high rate of polyploidy, with 9/11 of assessed species confirmed as polyploid and only 3 confirmed as diploid.[3] This is not unprecedented, with polyploidy being a common feature in the tribe Sisyrinchieae.[13] The uniform base number of x=19[13] is, however, defining within the tribe. This base number is not found elsewhere in the tribe and only Diplarrhena and Solenomelus have uniform base numbers intragenerically.[13]
All New Zealand endemic species of Libertia are diploid, hexaploid or dodecaploid,[14][15][16][17][3] while these levels of ploidy have not been found outside New Zealand. Polyploidy is more prevalent in New Zealand species across all botanical taxa[18][19] and this has been attributed as a relic of glacial refugia during glacial maximums.[20]
Distribution | Species | Ploidy Level | Chromosomal Count | Contention |
---|---|---|---|---|
South American | L. chilensis | 4x (6x) | 76[15] (72, 114)[21] | Due to numerous issues with this study, authors found the sample, identified as Libertia ixioides (New Zealand endemic) but collected from Chile, to have 72 chromosomes present.[22] This was most likely a misidentification of Libertia chilensis, with a further error in counting.
Samples from the Juan Fernandez Islands were found to have 114 chromosomes, in comparison to the 76 found on the mainland.[21] |
South American | L. colombiana | No data available. | No data available. | |
New Zealand endemic | L. cranwelliae | 12x | 228[3] | |
New Zealand endemic | L. edgariae | 6x | 114[3] | |
South American | L. falcata | No data available. | No data available. | |
New Zealand endemic | L. flaccidifolia | 12x | 228[14] | |
New Zealand endemic | L. grandiflora | 6x | 114[17] (228, 230)[14] | The 228/230 chromosome specimen was likely Libertia flaccidifolia,[17] before the 2009 naming by Blanchon and Weaver.[14] |
South American | L. insignis | No data available. | No data available. | |
New Zealand endemic | L. ixioides | 12x | 228[17] (220-230, 230)[15] | Due to the difficulty in counting chromosomes, authors found between 220 and 230 chromosomes in different counts, with 228 being the average count.[15] |
New Zealand endemic | L. micrantha | 2x | 38[15] | |
New Zealand endemic | L. mooreae | 6x | 114[3] | |
Australian | L. paniculata | 4x | 76[15] | |
New Zealand endemic | L. peregrinans | 6x | 114[16] | |
Australasia | L. pulchella | 2x | 38[16] | |
South American | L. sessiliflora | 2x | 38[15] | |
South American | L. tricocca | No data available. | No data available. | |
South American | L. umbellata | No data available. | No data available. |