{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Speciesbox |image = |genus = Patersonia |species = maxwellii |authority = (F.Muell.) F.Muell. ex Benth.<ref name=APC>{{cite web|title=''Patersonia maxwellii''|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/59777|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=1 December 2021}}</ref> |synonyms_ref = <ref name="APC" /> |synonyms = * ''Genosiris maxweli'' <small>F.Muell. orth. var.</small> * ''Genosiris maxwellii'' <small>F.Muell.</small> }}
'''''Patersonia maxwellii''''' is a species of flowering plant in the iris family Iridaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is a tufted, rhizome-forming perennial herb with linear leaves and violet tepals.
==Description== ''Patersonia maxwellii'' is a tufted, rhizome-forming perennial herb that has linear leaves {{cvt|150–240|mm}} long and {{cvt|1–2|mm}} wide and deeply grooved with tiny hairs on the edges. The flowering scape is {{cvt|40–200|mm}} long and glabrous and the sheath enclosing the flowers is lance-shaped, glabrous, chocolate brown and {{cvt|25–35|mm}} long. The outer tepals are violet, broadly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, {{cvt|12–20|mm}} long and {{cvt|10–15|mm}} wide, the hypanthium tube about {{cvt|25|mm}} long and glabrous. Flowering occurs from September to November and the fruit is a capsule {{cvt|20–25|mm}} long containing dark brown seeds.<ref name="ABRS">{{cite web |title=''Patersonia maxwellii'' |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Patersonia%20maxwellii |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra |access-date=1 December 2021}}</ref><ref name=FloraBase>{{FloraBase|name=''Patersonia maxwellii''|id=1549}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== This species was first formally described in 1869 by Ferdinand von Mueller who gave it the name ''Genosiris maxwellii'' in ''Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae'' from specimens collected by George Maxwell from Stokes's Inlet to McCallum's Inlet.<ref name=APNI1>{{cite web|title=''Genosiris maxwellii''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/495473|publisher=APNI|access-date=1 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="F.Muell.">{{cite book |last1=von Mueller |first1=Ferdinand |title=Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae |volume=7 |date=1869 |publisher=Victorian Government Printer |location=Melbourne |page=34 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/7224#page/35/mode/1up |access-date=1 December 2021}}</ref> In 1873, George Bentham changed the name to ''Patersonia maxwellii''.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=''Patersonia maxwellii''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/464361|publisher=APNI|access-date=1 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="Benth.">{{cite book |last1=Bentham |first1=George |last2=von Mueller |first2=Ferdinand |title=Flora Australiensis |volume=6 |date=1873 |publisher=Lovell Reeve & Co. |location=London |page=405 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/44539#page/411/mode/1up |access-date=1 December 2021}}</ref> The specific epithet (''maxwellii'') commemorates George Maxwell.<ref name="Sharr">{{cite book |last1=Sharr |first1=Francis Aubi |last2=George |first2=Alex |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |page=249 |edition=3rd}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== ''Patersonia maxwellii'' grows in heath and seasonally wet places in near-coastal areas between Albany and Israelite Bay and on the southern Darling Range in the Jarrah Forest and Esperance Plains biogeographic regions in southern Western Australia.<ref name="ABRS" /><ref name="FloraBase" />
==Conservation status== This patersonia is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.<ref name="FloraBase" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q15296275}}
maxwellii Category:Angiosperms of Western Australia Category:Asparagales of Australia Category:Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Category:Plants described in 1869