Watsonia

Watsonia is a genus in the Iridaceae family of over 50 species from southern Africa. This genus belongs to the subfamily Crocoideae and with Cyanixia , Micranthus, Pillansia, Savannosiphon, Thereianthus, and Zygotritonia the tribe Watsonieae. Species are centered in the southwestern Cape of South Africa but extend north into Namaqualand and east into the summer rainfall areas of eastern South Africa, Swaziland, and Lesotho. Growing from a corm, species are both evergreen and perennial. Many are quite tall with fans of sword-shaped leaves and spikes of showy (often many) flowers that are usually pink, bright red or orange. They are popular garden plants in countries where they are hardy with many attractive cultivars available. Their bright colors and tall flowering spikes can make them a very prominent part of the garden when in bloom. Cameron McMaster wrote articles about this genus for Farmers Weekly in 2008 and 2009. The first is an introduction and discussion of the winter flowering species. The second discusses the summer rainfall species. A few species have become aggressive weeds in Australia, New Zealand, and California, especially Watsonia meriana var. bulbillifera. For more information consult Peter Goldblatt’s Watsonia monograph.


For more photos and information about the species select the appropriate wiki page or click on the name in the table below:


Watsonia species
Watsonia aletroides, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia aletroides
Watsonia amatolae, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia amatolae
Watsonia angusta, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia angusta
Watsonia borbonica, Alan Horstmann [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia borbonica
Watsonia coccinea, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia coccinea
Watsonia confusa, Maclear, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia confusa
Watsonia densiflora pink, Rogan Roth [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia densiflora
Watsonia distans, Rod Saunders [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia distans
Watsonia emiliae, Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-Vlok [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia emiliae
Watsonia fourcadei, Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-Vlok [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia fourcadei
Watsonia galpinii, Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-Vlok [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia galpinii
Watsonia gladioloides, Aurora Peak, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia gladioloides
Watsonia humilis, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia humilis
Watsonia knysnana, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia knysnana
Watsonia laccata, Agulhas, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia laccata
Watsonia latifolia, David Hoare, iNaturalist, CC BY-NC [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia latifolia
Watsonia lepida, Peter Warren, iNaturalist [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia lepida
Watsonia marginata, Tulbagh, Andrew Harvie [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia marginata
Watsonia marlothii, Nick Helme, iNaturalist, CC BY-SA [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia marlothii
Watsonia meriana, Bob Rutemoeller [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia meriana
Watsonia occulta, thinus, iNaturalist, CC BY-NC [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia occulta
Watsonia pillansii, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia pillansii
Watsonia pulchra, Rod Saunders [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia pulchra
Watsonia rogersii, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia rogersii
Watsonia humilis, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Watsonia roseoalba
Watsonia schlechteri, Boskloof, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia schlechteri
Watsonia spectabilis, Napier, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia spectabilis
Watsonia stenosiphon, Audrey Cain [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia stenosiphon
Watsonia tabularis, Rod Saunders [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia tabularis
Watsonia vanderspuyiae, Felix Riegel, iNaturalist, CC BY-NC [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia vanderspuyae
Watsonia versfeldii Watsonia watsonioides, Nick de Rothschild [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia watsonioides
Watsonia wilmaniae, J and A Vlok [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia wilmaniae
Watsonia zeyheri, Arniston, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Watsonia zeyheri
* = synonym

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