Watsonia (plant)

Watsonia (plant)
Watsonia (bugle lily) is a genus of plants in the family Iridaceae, subfamily Crocoideae. Watsonias are native to southern Africa (South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini). The genus is named after Sir William Watson, an 18th-century British botanist.
Diversity
There are 56 accepted species in southern Africa, with two varieties and about 112 names either unresolved or regarded as synonyms. All are perennial herbs growing from corms and producing erect spikes of showy flowers. Most are fynbos plants, adapted to a Mediterranean-type climate, but some occur along the eastern and inland areas of the country and adapted to a wider range of conditions, mainly continental climate with summer rainfall. Many species occur mainly in the mountains, though some occur in sandy flats and marshy areas.
Cultivation
The most commonly cultivated species is the pink-flowered Watsonia borbonica and its white mutant 'Arderne's White'. These were crossed with Watsonia meriana and other species in the early 20th century by breeders including John Cronin in Australia and Luther Burbank in California to produce a wide range of cultivars. Watsonia has been eclipsed in popularity by Gladiolus and other bulbs, and is now neglected by the nursery industry.
Distribution
Native to South Africa, Watsonia species were introduced as garden ornamentals to Australia in the mid-19th century and were widely grown by the 1940s.
In the South-West of Western Australia, six species have become naturalised from garden escapes along rivers, wetlands and seasonally wet ground. In places Watsonia spp. have displaced native understorey flora; concentrations of them create a fire hazard in summer.
Watsonia meriana var. bulbillifera is also a weed in New Zealand, Réunion and Mauritius.
Systematics
The genus comprises 58 species.
Watsonia aletroides (Burm.f.) Ker Gawl.
Watsonia amabilis Goldblatt
Watsonia amatolae Goldblatt
Watsonia angusta Ker Gawl.
Watsonia bachmannii L.Bolus
Watsonia bella N.E.Br. ex Goldblatt
Watsonia borbonica (Pourr.) Goldblatt
Watsonia borbonica subsp. ardernei (Sander) Goldblatt
Watsonia borbonica subsp. borbonica
Watsonia canaliculata Goldblatt
Watsonia coccinea (Herb. ex Baker) Baker
Watsonia confusa Goldblatt
Watsonia densiflora Baker
Watsonia distans L.Bolus
Watsonia dubia Eckl. ex Klatt
Watsonia elsiae Goldblatt
Watsonia emiliae L.Bolus
Watsonia fergusoniae L.Bolus
Watsonia fourcadei J.W.Mathews & L.Bolus
Watsonia galpinii L.Bolus
Watsonia gladioloides Schltr.
Watsonia humilis Mill.
Watsonia hysterantha J.W.Mathews & L.Bolus
Watsonia inclinata Goldblatt
Watsonia knysnana L.Bolus
Watsonia laccata (Jacq.) Ker Gawl.
Watsonia latifolia N.E.Br. ex Oberm.
Watsonia lepida N.E.Br.
Watsonia × longifolia J.W.Mathews & L.Bolus
Watsonia marginata (L.f.) Ker Gawl.
Watsonia marlothii L.Bolus
Watsonia meriana (L.) Mill.
Watsonia meriana var. bulbillifera (J.W.Mathews & L.Bolus) D.A.Cooke
Watsonia meriana var. meriana
Watsonia minima Goldblatt
Watsonia mtamvunae Goldblatt
Watsonia obrienii V. Tibergen
Watsonia occulta L.Bolus
Watsonia paucifolia Goldblatt
Watsonia pillansii L.Bolus
Watsonia pondoensis Goldblatt
Watsonia pulchra N.E.Br. ex Goldblatt
Watsonia rogersii L.Bolus
Watsonia rourkei Goldblatt
Watsonia schlechteri L.Bolus
Watsonia spectabilis Schinz
Watsonia stenosiphon L.Bolus
Watsonia stokoei L.Bolus
Watsonia strictiflora Ker Gawl.
Watsonia strubeniae L.Bolus
Watsonia tabularis J.W.Mathews & L.Bolus
Watsonia transvaalensis Baker
Watsonia vanderspuyae L.Bolus
Watsonia versfeldii J.W.Mathews & L.Bolus
Watsonia watsonioides (Baker) Oberm.
Watsonia wilmaniae J.W.Mathews & L.Bolus
Watsonia wilmsii L.Bolus
Watsonia zeyheri L.Bolus
See also
List of plants known as lily
Notes
References
Goldblatt, P. (1989) The Genus Watsonia. Ann. Kirstenbosch Bot. Gard. 19. (National Botanic Gardens: Cape Town).
External links
Iridaceae genera
Iridaceae
Flora of Southern Africa
Taxa named by Philip Miller