Watsonia aletroides

Watsonia aletroides is a cormous, dwarf perennial reaching heights from 30 cm to 60 cm.

It grows four or five short, shiny leaves, sword-shaped with acutely pointed tips and thick midribs. The leaves become 5 mm to 10 mm wide, reaching about halfway up the flowering spike.

The species is distributed in a broad, mainly coastal strip in the Western Cape from Bot River to Uniondale and Knysna. The plant grows in clay and shale soils mainly in renosterveld.

The species hybridises with W. laccata.

Seeds and bulbs of this plant are widely marketed (Mustart, et al, 1997; Manning, 2007; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984).