THE WATSONIA 67 



pendent origin. The white forms that are most 

 familiar under cultivation are so similar that 

 they have been thought to be identical, the ori- 

 gin of one of them being somewhat in doubt. 



The white Watsonia whose origin is clearly 

 known is descended from a plant discovered 

 about eighty miles from the Cape of Good 

 Hope by Mr. H. W. Arderne, of Cape Town. 

 He took the plant to his garden and in 1892 had 

 a colony of the white flowers under cultivation. 

 In due course they were introduced, and gained 

 a measure of popularity among discriminating 

 horticulturists, chiefly because of the exquisite 

 whiteness of the flower. 



Meantime, however, the original species has 

 not been neglected, although comparatively little 

 work had been done, in this country at any rate, 

 in the cultivation of any of the Watsonias at the 

 time my experiments commenced. Possibly 

 the flowers would not have been prized but for 

 the introduction of the white, as the others are 

 rather dull and not particularly attractive in 



color. 



HYBRIDIZING THE WATSONIA 



I have never been able to determine clearly 

 whether the white variety named W. Ardernei 

 in honor of its discoverer is identical with the 

 variety introduced as W. O'BrienL They are 



