Watsonia is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

s in the iris

Iridaceae

The Iris family or Iridaceae is a family of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants included in the monocot order Asparagales, taking its name from the genus Iris. Almost worldwide in distribution and one of the most important families in horticulture, it includes more than 2000 species...

 family, subfamily Crocoideae, native to South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. The genus is named after Sir William Watson, an 18th century British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 botanist.

There are 52 species in southern Africa; all are perennial herbs growing from corm

Corm

A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat ....

s and producing erect spikes of showy flowers, and are adapted to a Mediterranean-type climate.

The most common species in cultivation is the pink-flowered Watsonia borbonica and its white mutant 'Arderne's White'. These were crossed with Watsonia meriana

Watsonia meriana

Watsonia meriana is a species of flowering plant in the iris family known by the common name bulbil bugle-lily. It is one of several Watsonia species known as wild watsonia. It is native to South Africa, but it is well-known as an ornamental plant grown in gardens for its showy spikes of flowers...

and other species in the early 20th century by breeders including John Cronin

John Cronin (Australia)

John Cronin was a horticulturist and public servant in Victoria, Australia.After working as an orchard inspector in the Department of Agriculture and at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, he was appointed Principal of the Burnley Horticultural College, Richmond in 1908...

 in Australia and Luther Burbank

Luther Burbank

Luther Burbank was an American botanist, horticulturist and a pioneer in agricultural science.He developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over his 54-year career. Burbank's varied creations included fruits, flowers, grains, grasses, and vegetables...

 in California to produce a wide range of cultivars. Watsonia has been eclipsed in popularity by Gladiolus

Gladiolus

Gladiolus is a genus of perennial bulbous flowering plants in the iris family...

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

Southwest Australia

Southwest Australia is a biodiversity hotspot that includes the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregions of Western Australia. The region has a wet-winter, dry-summer Mediterranean climate, one of five such regions in the world...

, 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

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, Réunion

Réunion

Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...

 and Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

.

External links

• http://members.ozemail.com.au/~davcooke/watsonia.htm
• http://www.weeds.org.au/cgi-bin/weedident.cgi?tpl=plant.tpl&ibra=all&card=E51