Libertia is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the family Iridaceae, 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, and New Zealand. Eight species are endemic to New Zealand.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
Libertia is made up of herbaceous or evergreen perennials growing from short rhizomes, 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 (1782–1865) (also referred to as Anne-Marie Libert).
The species Libertia chilensis has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Species Libertia chilensis (Molina) Gunckel – central + southern Chile, southern Argentina, Juan Fernández Islands Libertia colombiana R.C.Foster – Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia Libertia cranwelliae Blanchon, B.G.Murray & Braggins – North Island of New Zealand Libertia edgariae Blanchon, B.G.Murray & Braggins – North Island of New Zealand Libertia falcata Ravenna – Los Lagos region of Chile Libertia flaccidifolia Blanchon & J.S.Weaver – North Island of New Zealand Libertia grandiflora (R.Br.) Sweet – North + South Islands of New Zealand Libertia insignis Ravenna – Los Lagos region of Chile Libertia ixioides (G.Forst.) Spreng. – North + South Islands of New Zealand Libertia micrantha A.Cunn. – North + South Islands of New Zealand Libertia mooreae 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 of New Zealand Libertia pulchella (R.Br.) Spreng. – New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, 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, Cardiocrinum, Hosta, Orthrosanthus).
Cytology
Libertia has a high rate of polyploidy, with 9/11 of assessed species confirmed as polyploid and only 3 confirmed as diploid. This is not unprecedented, with polyploidy being a common feature in the tribe Sisyrinchieae. 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 have uniform base numbers intragenerically.
All New Zealand endemic species of Libertia are diploid, hexaploid or dodecaploid, while these levels of ploidy have not been found outside New Zealand. Polyploidy is more prevalent in New Zealand species across all botanical taxa and this has been attributed as a relic of glacial refugia during glacial maximums. DistributionSpeciesPloidy LevelChromosomal CountContentionSouth AmericanL. chilensis4x (6x)76 (72, 114)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. 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.South AmericanL. colombianaNo data available.No data available.New Zealand endemicL. cranwelliae12x228New Zealand endemicL. edgariae6x114South AmericanL. falcataNo data available.No data available.New Zealand endemicL. flaccidifolia12x228New Zealand endemicL. grandiflora6x114 (228, 230)The 228/230 chromosome specimen was likely Libertia flaccidifolia, before the 2009 naming by Blanchon and Weaver.South AmericanL. insignisNo data available.No data available.New Zealand endemicL. ixioides12x228 (220–230, 230)Due to the difficulty in counting chromosomes, authors found between 220 and 230 chromosomes in different counts, with 228 being the average count.New Zealand endemicL. micrantha2x38New Zealand endemicL. mooreae6x114AustralianL. paniculata4x76New Zealand endemicL. peregrinans6x114AustralasiaL. pulchella2x38South AmericanL. sessiliflora2x38South AmericanL. tricoccaNo data available.No data available.South AmericanL. umbellataNo data available.No data available.
References