Plant Protection Quarterly Vol.8(3) 1993 77 Watsonia Workshop Proceedings of a workshop held at the Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) on August 4 1993. Organized by CALMs Science and Information Division and funded by the WA Roadside Conservation Committee. Editors: J. Patrick Pigott, WA Herbarium, Science and Information Division, Department of Conservation and Land Management, PO Box 104, Como, WA 6152, Australia. C. Mary Gray, Environmental Scientist, 24 Hillview Road, Mt Lawley, WA 6050, Australia.

Western Australian species of Watsonia

Neville Marchant, Acting Director, WA Herbarium, Science and Information Division, Department of Conservation and Land Management, PO Box 104, Como, WA 6152, Australia.

Introduction How and when did watsonias come with settlers who arrived in Western Aus- Watsonia in Western Australia is an unu- to WA? tralia well after Georgiana Molloy. sual weed group in that there are about The characteristic of Watsonia which There are 52 species of Watsonia recog- eight species of the one genus in the State. brought so many species to this State is nized in a comprehensive treatment pub- A whole suite of species and their vari- that they have very attractive flowers. In lished in 1989 by Peter Goldblatt who has ants were introduced as garden plants in January 1830, en route to Fremantle, when reviewed all of the species described since the early days of the Swan River Colony. travellers to Western Australia called into the first one was published in 1754. The In their native habitats in southern Af- Cape Town, Georgiana Molloy spent £7 type of study made by Goldblatt, system- rica there are about 52 species of Watsonia, 17s 6d on seeds from the Cape, among atic research, entails the detailed exami- 34 of them occurring in the Cape area them oleanders, Cape gooseberries and a nation of herbarium material and litera- which has a similar climate to that of pink lily, the Watsonia. Many of the seeds ture to detail the species which have been south western Australia. Watsonia species came from a friends cottage at Ronde- described as Watsonia or even other gen- are difficult to classify and name until the bosch four miles from Cape Town accord- era, to determine their diagnostic charac- task was made easier by a comprehensive ing to the interesting book ‘Portrait with ters and then to circumscribe them and taxonomic revision published in 1989. Be- Background’, on the life of Georgiana provide a key to enable identification. fore this date, South African taxonomists Molloy written by Alexandra Hasluck. The flower structure itself provides the recognized from 10 to 72 species. A major Of course not all our watsonias prob- main characters for taxonomic studies be- reason for this variation in number, apart ably came from Georgiana Molloy, but cause flowers control reproduction and from nomenclatural confusion, redefini- her introductions to Augusta and prob- they are assumed to have constant struc- tion of species limits and morphological ably Busselton in the moist south west ture within each taxonomic grouping. But variation, is that some species freely hy- corner of the State, were made over 160 other characters such as inflorescence bridize. years ago. It is likely that watsonias came type are used to distinguish Watsonia The first settlers en route to Western to Western Australia from a number of from its near relatives and the individual Australia called into Cape Town and se- sources right up to recent times. I believe species of Watsonia from each other. To lected species, varieties and probably hy- some species were being offered for sale understand the taxonomy of Watsonia we brids of Watsonia to grow in the new in a Perth chain store recently. Cape need to understand some terminology. colony. It seems when some of these be- plants were very popular in Europe from For example, the flower, meaning the came established they hybridized, leading the late 1700s and members of the family petal-like organs, make up the perianth to the present-day difficulty in applying Iridaceae were most suited to green- and it is the shape, arrangement and col- names to the species now naturalized houses. So, some of our species could our of this organ which helps us to iden- here. Nevertheless we know that at least have come from South Africa via Europe tify the species. four “species” are rampant weeds and impact on nature conservation in this Table 1. Comparison of taxonomic treatments of the genus Watsonia.* State. There are few weeds out of the 800 or so Flora of the Perth Goldblatt (1989) Flora of species recorded for WA which are like region (1987) Australia (1986) Watsonia. In the case of most weeds, there W. aletroides W. aletroides – are one or two, rarely three species of the W. marginata W. marginata W. marginata one genus which are introduced to the W. meriana W. meriana W. meriana State. This is not the case with Watsonia W. bulbillifera = W. meriana W. bulbillifera where up to eight species have been W. leipoldtii = W. meriana – listed. Not all of these are naturalized but W. versfeldii W. versfeldii W. versfeldii we have little information and there are W. wordsworthiana not known in wild – many taxonomic problems, that is, prob- – ? W. sp. A lems with consistently applying names to – ? W. sp. B the species. * W. borbonica has also been recorded for south-west WA. 78 Plant Protection Quarterly Vol.8(3) 1993 Having a name for biological species is desirable if we want to seek, store Distribution, impact and biology of the other andutilize biological data on things like reproduction, seed germination, seed lon- “watsonias”, Chasmanthe (African Corn Flag) and gevity, fire response etc. and ecological Crocosmia (Montbretia) in Western Australia information on the species. John Scott will undoubtedly mention the need to know the names of species we are dealing with Greg Keighery, Department of Conservation and Land Management, in the case of seeking biological control PO Box 51, Wanneroo, WA 6065, Australia. agents. However, in the genus Watsonia we have some problems naming the spe- cies present in WA. Summary Chasmanthe is widespread throughout ex Morren) N.E. Br. has become natural- How many species do we have the lower south west of Western Aus- ized in Australia (Cooke 1984). Both spe- recorded in this State? tralia. Chasmanthe has been recorded cies were widely grown as ornamentals A taxonomic account of all species of from 13 conservation reserves, and three (Montbretia is still available in the nurs- Watsonia in Australia was published in forest blocks, chiefly from highly dis- ery trade) and were originally introduced ‘Flora of Australia’ in 1986, but this only turbed sites. It can, however, invade as such. These two species have a very recognized six species (Table 1). The bushland if the initial introduction is similar habit to watsonia in leaf, and are Western Australian species were studied not removed. Sites most affected appear chiefly distinguished by weed control by Gillian Perry at the WA Herbarium, in to be on well drained calcareous soils in personnel and the public as “another spe- preparing the ‘Flora of the Perth Region’ contrast to the other “watsonias”. cies of watsonia” even when in flower. which was published in 1987, two years Crocosmia is sparingly naturalized on Only in Western Australia are both va- before publication of Goldblatt’s detailed vacant lots in towns and road verges rieties of Chasmanthe floribunda natural- study of all species (Table 1). We believed only in the higher rainfall areas of south ized: the typical var. floribunda with or- that there were eight species recorded for Western Australia. ange flowers and var. duckittii G. Lewis WA; these are treated differently in ex L. Bol. with yellow flowers, yellow- Goldblatt so, how do we deal with this Introduction brown anthers and a shorter floral tube. taxonomic confusion? Chasmanthe and Crocosmia are southern Why is there so much discrepancy in the African Iridaceae genera of three (De Vos Methods application of names? The reason must be 1985) and nine species (De Vos 1984) re- Distribution data was obtained from road that in WA we have variants which arose spectively. One species of each genus, logs, field note books and reserve lists through cultivation and we have hybrids, Chasmanthe floribunda (Salisb.) N.E.Br. compiled by the author from 1985 to the some of which were probably selected in and Crocosmia × crocosmiifolia (Lemoine present. All available published and the gardens at Rondebosch 163 years ago and some of which probably arose here in WA. At this stage of our knowledge we need not be concerned that we have difficulty in identifying the species we have; we can use interim names. We may use for exam- ple, a temporary or interim name like Watsonia species A or Watsonia “Busselton pink”. This poses no problem when we have computer databases which can cope with temporary names and easily enter other names as they are determined. The Department of Conservation and Land Management’s Herbarium has a sophisti- cated database which already has the watsonia collections entered. However, we need more specimens with full anno- tations on their locality, habitat and other observations which will enable us to build up a useful database of the biology of these insidious plants.

Figure 1. Distribution of Chasmanthe floribunda in Western Australia.