Watsonia

Watsonia is a genus of deciduous, evergreen, cormous perennials in the Iridaceae family.

The globose to depressed corm roots from below the corm body, those of past seasons often not resorbed (absorbed again). Corm tunics are leathery, sometimes fibrous with age. The aerial plant stems are cylindrical, sometimes branched.

Several sword-shaped leaves, as well as two or three small cataphylls are produced annually. The leaves often have thickened midribs and margins. Stem-leaves are smaller and the upper ones reducing upwards.

The unscented, distichous or two-sided inflorescences are simple, branched or sometimes twisted spikes. Each flower is subtended by two dry or green bracts, usually unequal and their tips forked. Most species bear radially symmetrical and two-lipped flowers with curved perianth tubes of varying length. The tepals are mostly unequal, although sometimes nearly equal. Their outer parts are broad, jointly form a cylinder or they flare. Corolla colour varies from pink to orange or red, while white, cream and yellow are less common. The lower tepals may be differently coloured to the rest of a corolla. The three stamens are often arching together below the dorsal tepal. The thread-like, exserted style has three branches, each forked for half its length and recurved.

The fruit is a globose, oblong or spindle-shaped capsule, leathery or woody. The seeds are large, angled or compressed and winged, sometimes ribbed.

There are 52 Watsonia species, all in southern Africa; mostly in the Western Cape fynbos, while some occur in summer rainfall regions including the Drakensberg.

The Afrikaans common name of suurkanol (sour corm) refers to a sour taste some people must have determined. Several species feature in gardening.

The plant in picture is Watsonia borbonica photographed in the Salmonsdam Nature Reserve during November (Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Manning, 2007).