''Libertia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

monocotyledon Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, ( Lilianae '' sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are flowering plants whose seeds contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. A monocot taxon has been in use for several decades, but with various ranks ...

ous plants in the family

Iridaceae Iridaceae () is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the Iris (plant), irises. It has a nearly global distribution, with 69 accepted genera with a total of about 2500 species. It includes a number of economically importan ...

, first described as a genus in 1824.Sprengel, Curt Polycarp Joachim 1824. Systema Vegetabilium, editio decima sexta 1: 127
in Latin It is native to South America, Australia,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, and New Zealand. Eight species are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to New Zealand.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> ''Libertia'' is made up of

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

perennials In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

growing from short

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

s, with simple, linear or narrowly lanceolate basal leaves which are often green but may be red, orange, or yellow under direct sunlight. 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. The genus was named after the Belgian botanist

Marie-Anne Libert Marie-Anne Libert (born 7 April 1782 in Malmedy, province of Liège, died 14 January 1865 in Malmedy) was a Belgian botanist and mycologist. She was one of the first women plant pathologists. She is sometimes referred to as "Anne-Marie Libert". ...

(1782–1865) (also referred to as Anne-Marie Libert). The species ''Libertia chilensis'' has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

. ; Species * ''

Libertia chilensis ''Libertia chilensis'', synonym ''Libertia formosa'', called the New Zealand satin flower, snowy mermaid, or Chilean-iris, is a species of flowering plant in the iris family, Iridaceae, native to the Juan Fernández Islands, central and southern ...

'' (Molina) Gunckel - central + southern Chile, southern Argentina,

Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands () are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic islands: Robinson Crusoe Island, R ...

* ''

Libertia colombiana ''Libertia'' is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1824.

'' R.C.Foster - Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia * ''

Libertia cranwelliae ''Libertia cranwelliae'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. The plant was first described by Dan Blanchon, Brian Grant Murray and John E. Braggins in 2002, and is native to New Zealand. Etymology The species was named ...

'' Blanchon, B.G.Murray & Braggins - North Island of New Zealand * ''

Libertia edgariae ''Libertia'' is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1824.

'' Blanchon, B.G.Murray & Braggins - North Island of New Zealand * ''

Libertia falcata ''Libertia'' is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1824.

'' Ravenna -

Los Lagos region Los Lagos Region ( , 'Region of the Lakes') is one of regions of Chile, Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé Province, Chiloé, Llanquihue Province, Llanquihue, Osorno Provin ...

of Chile * ''

Libertia flaccidifolia ''Libertia flaccidifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. The plant was first described by Dan Blanchon and J.S. Weaver in 2009, and is thought to be endemic to northern Rodney in the Auckland Region, New Zealand. T ...

'' Blanchon & J.S.Weaver - North Island of New Zealand * ''

Libertia grandiflora ''Libertia grandiflora'', the tukauki or mikoikoi, is a flowering plant in the family (biology), family Iridaceae. The species is endemic to New Zealand, and is found on the North Island and the northern part of the South Island. It is a clump-f ...

'' (R.Br.) Sweet - North + South Islands of New Zealand * ''

Libertia insignis ''Libertia'' is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1824.

'' Ravenna - Los Lagos region of Chile * '' Libertia ixioides'' (G.Forst.) Spreng. - North + South Islands of New Zealand * ''

Libertia micrantha ''Libertia'' is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1824.

'' A.Cunn. - North + South Islands of New Zealand * ''

Libertia mooreae ''Libertia mooreae'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. The plant was first described by Dan Blanchon, Brian Grant Murray and John E. Braggins in 2002, and is native to New Zealand. Etymology The species was named afte ...

'' Blanchon, B.G.Murray & Braggins - North + South Islands of New Zealand * '' Libertia paniculata'' (R.Br.) Spreng. - eastern Australia - Branching Grass Flag * '' Libertia peregrinans'' Cockayne & Allan - North + South +

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ; Moriori language, Moriori: , 'Misty Sun'; ) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island, administered as part of New Zealand, and consisting of about 10 islands within an approxima ...

of New Zealand * '' Libertia pulchella'' (R.Br.) Spreng. -

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, North + South Islands of New Zealand, New Guinea * '' Libertia sessiliflora'' (Poepp.) Skottsb. - central Chile * '' Libertia tricocca'' Phil. - central + southern Chile * '' Libertia umbellata'' Ravenna - Los Lagos region of Chile ; Selected formerly included Numerous names have been coined using the name ''Libertia,'' referring to species that are now regarded as better suited to other genera ''(

Bromus ''Bromus'' is a large genus of grasses, classified in its own tribe Bromeae. They are commonly known as bromes, brome grasses, cheat grasses, or chess grasses. Estimates in the scientific literature of the number of species have ranged from 100 ...

Cardiocrinum

Hosta ''Hosta'' (, synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Funkia'') is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies and occasionally by the Japanese name gibōshi. Hostas are widely cultivated as shade-tolerant foliage plants. The genus is placed ...

Orthrosanthus ''Orthrosanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae first described as a genus in 1827. It is native to western and southern Australia and the Americas from Mexico to northwestern Argentina.Espejo Serna, A. & López-Ferrari, ...

).''

Cytology

''Libertia'' has a high rate of

polyploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the biological cell, cells of an organism have more than two paired sets of (Homologous chromosome, homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have Cell nucleus, nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning ...

y, with 9/11 of assessed species confirmed as

and only 3 confirmed as

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...

. This is not unprecedented, with

y being a common feature in the tribe

Sisyrinchieae Sisyrinchieae is the second largest tribe in the subfamily Iridoideae. The group is included in the family Iridaceae. It contains many perennials which are widely distributed in the New World. The leaves of the plants are sword-shaped or grass- ...

. The uniform base number of x=19 is, however, defining within the tribe. This base number is not found elsewhere in the tribe and only ''Diplarrhena'' and ''

Solenomelus ''Solenomelus'' is a genus of South American (Argentina & Chile) species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae. They are very closely allied to Sisyrinchium with rhizomes, flowers with a perianth tube and a style that is not divided and a ...

'' have uniform base numbers intragenerically. All

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

species of ''Libertia'' are diploid,

hexaploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than two paired sets of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two complete sets of chromosomes, one fro ...

or dodecaploid, while these levels of

ploidy Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...

have not been found outside

Polyploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the biological cell, cells of an organism have more than two paired sets of (Homologous chromosome, homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have Cell nucleus, nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning ...

y is more prevalent in

species across all botanical taxa and this has been attributed as a relic of glacial refugia during glacial maximums.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2700376 Iridaceae genera