THE WATSONIA 65 



importance from the standpoint of the horti- 

 culturist. 



Perhaps the similarity of the Watsonia to the 

 familiar gladiolus has interfered with its rapid 

 introduction. Moreover the new plant is some- 

 what less hardy than the old one, and although 

 it thrives abundantly in the climate of California 

 it cannot as yet be grown satisfactorily in the 

 gardens of the northeastern United States. 



But there is one quality of the Watsonia, in 

 its perfected varieties, that puts it quite beyond 

 rivalry of the gladiolus. It produces a beautiful 

 snow-white flower. As we have elsewhere noted, 

 there has been, until recently, no truly white 

 gladiolus. But the white of the Watsonia has 

 been characterized as the "whitest white" in 

 nature. 



In the quality of its whiteness, this flower is 

 perhaps the only rival of the Shasta daisy. 

 Each of these flowers is of snowy whiteness, un- 

 dimmed by the slightest trace of pigment. 



The original wild forms of Watsonia, to be 

 sure, are not white. On the contrary, they are 

 of various hues of red and pink. But there is 

 apparently a spontaneous tendency to produce 

 now and again a white variant, for at least two, 

 and perhaps more, of these have been introduced 

 from South Africa that were probably of inde- 



Vol. 7 Bur. C 



