Watsonia borbonica (Pourr.) Goldblatt, Iridaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Gladiolus pyramidatus Andrews; Watsonia pyramidata (Andrews) Klatt; Watsonia rosea Banks ex Ker Gawl.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: bugle-lily, cape bugle-lily, watsonia

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Plants 1.2-2 m tall, with corms 3-4 cm in diameter, covered with coarsely reticulate tunics.  Leaves lanceolate, 40-90 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, margins hyaline and moderately thickened.  Flowers actinomorphic, in nearly straight, erect, branched spikes, bracts green below, brown-membranous above, 10-18 mm long; tepals pink to white, 30-36 mm long, 13-18 mm wide, inner whorl somewhat larger than outer whorl, spreading, perianth tube 20-27 mm long, upper part funnelform, nearly horizontal, 8-12 mm long; filaments 13-18 (-25) mm long, unilateral and either decumbent or arched and lying below upper tepal; anthers 10-13 mm long.  Capsules narrowly ellipsoid, 20-30 mm long, 7-10 mm wide. Seeds 8-10 mm long, winged at both ends"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1449).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawaii, "cultivated and sparingly naturalized"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1449).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  South Africa (southwestern Cape Province) (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011) subsp. borbonica
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 502, 548, 558) Voucher cited: Danton I(5/12)1359. "Es una especie vigorosa de rápida extensión que ya se naturalizó en varias partes del pueblo de San Juan Bautista".
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 39) Voucher cited: D. Lorence et al. 5746 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1449) East Maui. Voucher cited: Boyum s.n. (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, Randal T. (2002) (p. 9) West Maui. Voucher cited: C. R. Annable, H. Oppenheimer & G. Ray 3923 (BISH)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive cultivated	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2011) "A locally naturalized garden escape".

Additional information:
Information and photos from PlantzAfrica.
Information from FloraBase (Western Australia).

Additional online information about Watsonia borbonica is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Watsonia borbonica as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Watsonia borbonica may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. 1995. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. III. New additions, range extensions, and rediscoveries of flowering plants. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 41:19-58.

National Herbarium of New South Wales. 2011. PlantNet: New South Wales Flora online. The Plant Information Network System of the Botanic Gardens Trust Version 2.0. Online resource.

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, Randal T. 2002. New plant records from the main Hawaiian Islands. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2000. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 69:1-14.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 pp.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).