Watsonia marginata

Watsonia marginata, in Afrikaans commonly the kanolpypie (little bulb pipe), is a robust, cormous perennial that reaches heights ranging from 50 cm to 2 m.

The broad, lanceolate leaves have thick, translucent margins. They are blue-green in colour, the midrib sometimes purple. The leaves become about 3 cm to 5 cm wide and usually reach about two thirds of the inflorescence height.

The species grows in the Western Cape and slightly into the south of the Northern Cape, from the Cape Peninsula and Worcester to north of Nieuwoudtville. Its habitat is sandy and granitic soils, tending to damp patches of mountain slopes. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; www.redlist.sanbi.org).