Paters on i a (pater soʻnia)

[NL. (R. Brown, 1810), after Col. W. Paters on, an English traveler.] A genus of monocotyledonous plants of the order Irideæ, characterized by twin terminal spathes, slender perianth-tube, the three outer lobes being broad and spreading, and the three inner small and erect. There are 19 species, all Australian. They produce two-ranked gra like leaves from a short rootstock, and several or many flowers, two, or sometimes many, in every spathe, blue or purple and of much beauty, but very quickly perishing. They are known in Australia as the wild flag or purple lily, and many are now cultivated in gardens. patetico (på-ta'ti-kō), a. [It., = E. pathetic .] Pathetic: in music, noting a pa age to be rendered in a pathetic manner.