Watsonia meriana
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
watsonia
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Monocots
Flower colours
Cream, Red/Pink
Detailed description
Perennial herb with robust clumps up to about 1 m high, Inflorescence simple or sparingly branched, flowers 6-10 cm long, 3-5 cm diameter, rose-red, maroon-red, salmon-pink or cream tinged with green or white.
Similar taxa
Can be distinguished from W. meriana var. bulbillifera by the absence of bulbils, the simple or sparingly branched inflorescence and the relatively large flowers (6-10 cm long) in a wide variety of colours.
Habitat
Coastal places near human settlements.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ecology
Flowering
September, October, November, December
Year naturalised
1941
Origin
South Africa
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Life cycle and dispersal
Many occurrences are from dumped garden waste but seedlings can appear near established plants, in places remote from dumping sites.
Propagation technique
Corms; seed (though flower colour can’t be predicted from seed-grown plants).
Other information
Etymology
watsonia: Named after Sir William Watson, an English botanist (1715 – 1787)
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
WATMER
Referencing and citations
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: Ogle, C. (Year at time of access): Watsonia meriana Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/watsonia-meriana/ (Date website was queried)