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I bought this hoping for Watsonia distans - unfortunately I bought quite a number of Watsonia
at the same time and this one at least is wrong. This is W.meriana bulbillifera. The nursery label said: "Rarely seen species closely allied to borbonica. Tidy, upright fans of sword-like leaves & spikes of narrow tubular, deepest pink flowers in late spring. Not easy to please needing a retentive, free draining soil in sun." Peter Goldblatt says: "Watsonia distans is restricted to the mountains of the interior south-western Cape...Collection information indicates that it grows in marshy sites and it is probably restricted to such habitats. It seems likely that W. distans flowers only after fires have opened up the vegetation that normally would grow to a height of 2-3m and completely shade it out. The first record of Watsonia distans appears to be a collection made by the most prolific early nineteenth century collectors C. F. Ecklon & C. L. Zeyher. Their collection bears the locality Doornhoogte, located on the Cape Flats...named by Louisa Bolus in 1926. |
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| 28th June 2009 | ||
