| Libertia | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Libertia grandiflora | |
| 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 | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
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 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. |
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