Watsonia borbonica subsp. borbonica

Watsonia borbonica subsp. borbonica is a (late) summer deciduous perennial growing flowers to heights varying between 50 cm and 2 m. The perennial plant part is its rootstock, a corm of up to 4 cm in diameter, often multiplying to form dense clumps. The robust stems may be purple.

The distribution of the subspecies is in the southwest of the Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula to Worcester and Bredasdorp.

The habitat is mainly rocky sandstone slopes, but also granitic and clayey soils. This region receives winter rain, subject to dry, hot summers. Prolific flowering happens in the first couple of seasons after fire. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).