WATSON I A. 



bert, efq. in whofe green-houfe at Clapham it flowered the 

 fpring following. Bulb roundilh, deprefled. Stem leafy, 

 {lender, about a foot high. Leaves few, alternate, very 

 narrow, fpreading in two direAions. Flowers agreeing in 

 fize and difpofition with thofe of Ixia maculata, about three 

 in number, of a fine purple, marked with dotted or beaded 

 veins ; their fegments regular, elliptical, longer than the 

 tube, three of them rather fmaller than the reft. Stigmas 

 three, deeply divided.; or rather, we (hould fay, fix, ftrap- 

 ihaped, obtufe, revolute, downy. The charafter of the 

 Jligmas anfwers to Watfonia, but the habit is very unlike the 

 other fpecies. 



4. W. marginata. Broad Bordered-leaved Watfonia. 

 Ker in Curt. Mag. t. 608. Ait. n. 4. (Gladiolus mar- 

 ginatus ; Linn. Suppl. 95. Willd. Sp. PI. v. i. 217. 

 Thunb. Gladiol. n. 20.) — Leaves fword-fiiaped, with thick 

 callous edges. Spike fomewhat compound. Mouth of the 

 corolla with fix teeth. — Abundant on gralTy hills at the 

 Cape of Good Hope, as well as on the Table-mountain, 

 and other elevated ground, flowering from Oftober to De- 

 cember often in fuch profufion, as to cover the hills as it 

 were with a beautiful rofe-coloured carpet. Thunberg. In 

 our grcen-houfes it readily bloflbms from June to Auguft, 

 efpecially if planted in deep pots, and as readily increafes, 

 being, as Mr. Ker obferves, become within a few years one 

 Ckf the commoneft of its tribe. The great fize of the 

 plant, its thick-edged leaves, not indeed well expreffed in 

 the Botanical Magazine, and the copious, rofe-coloured 

 Jloivers, fmelling like Hawthorn, or Heliotrope, render this 

 one of the moll defirable and ftriking of the Cape bulbs. 

 The corolla is regular, with a tube about equal to its limb, 

 having a fhort cylindrical throat. Stigmas long, each in 

 two divaricated revolute fegments. 



5. W. rofea. Pyramidal-fpiked Watfonia. Ker in 

 Ann. of Bot. n. 5. Curt. Mag. t. 1072. Ait. n. 5. 

 (Gladiolus glumaceus ; Thunb. Prodr. 186. Vahl Enum. 

 V. 2. 105. G. marginatus ^; Thunb. Gladiol. n. 20. G. 

 iridifolii varietas ; Jacq. Ic. Rar. t. 235. G. pyramidatus; 

 Andr. Repof. t. 335.) — Leaves fword-fiiaped, thickened 

 at the edges. Spike compound. Mouth of the corolla 

 naked. — Native of the Cape of Good Hope. It appears 

 to have flowered, for the firft time in England, at the Dow- 

 ager Lady de Clifford's, in Auguft 1803. One of the 

 largeft of its tribe, being fometimes four feet high. We 

 cannot wonder at this having been taken for a variety of 

 the laft, at leaft while the fpecies of this difficult order of 

 plants were but fuperficially examined. The prefent is, 

 however, the larger and more ftately plant of the two, with 

 e"ven more beautiful rofe-coloured Jloivers, whofe corolla 

 wants the fix marginal teeth round the mouth, which 

 eflentially diftinguifh the preceding. 



6. W. brevifoUa. Short-leaved Watfonia. Ker in 

 Curt. Mag. t. 601. Ait. n. 6. (Antholyza fpicata ; 

 Andr. Repof. t. 56. Gladiolus teftaceus ; Vahl Enum. 

 V. 2. 105.) — Leaves ovate-fwordftiaped, equitant, very 

 fhort. Tube, throat, and limb, of the corolla equal in 

 length ; mouth naked. — Native of the Cape of Good 

 Hope, from whence it was imported by Meflrs. Lee and 

 Kennedy, through the hands of Mr. Pringle of Madeira, 

 in 1794. The leaves are about four, almoft perfeftly radi- 

 cal, remarkable for their fhortnefs, being but two or three 

 inches long, though near an inch wide ; their edges cartila- 

 ginous, though very narrow. Stem twelve or eighteen 

 inches high. Spike long, ereft, fimple, or fometimes 

 branched, but not compofed of little fpikclets. Flowers 

 of a tawny red, about the fize of IV. marginata, but the 

 proportion of their tube, and efpecially their throat, is longer 



compared with the Umh. Their colour would lead us to 

 expeft fome fragrance, in the evening at leaft, but this is 

 faid not to be the cafe. They have, however, the advantage 

 of being much more lafting than fome of their allies. The 

 Jligmas are deeply cloven. 



7. W. iridifoUa. Flag -leaved Watfonia. Ker in Ann. 

 of Bot. n. 12. Ait. n. 7. (Gladiolus iridifolius ; Jacq. 

 Ic. Rar. t. 234. Willd. Sp. PI. v. i. 215, excluding the 

 fynonym of G. cardinalis. ) — /3. var. fulgens ; Curt. Mag. 

 t. 600. (Antholyza fulgens ; Andr. Repof. t. 192. Gla- 

 diolus marginatus -/ ; Thunb. Gladiol. n. 20.) — Throat of 

 the corolla curved, longer than the tube, and rather longer 

 than the acute Hmb. Leaves fword-fhaped, ereft, with a 

 prominent midrib. — Native of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 from whence it was fent by Mr. MafTon, in 1795. The 

 variety /S is preferred, on account of the fplendid fcarlet co- 

 lour of its flowers, in which alone it is faid to differ from 

 the pale greyifh- flowered plant, figured by Jacquin. We 

 have not feen the latter, but if the figure be correft, the 

 tube, and the cylindrical throat, are, each of them-, fhorter 

 in proportion to the Jheath, and to the limb, than in the 

 fcarlet kind. The leaves in both are long, ereft, and 

 fcarcely thickened at the edges, having more of a midrib 

 than the feveral foregoing fpecies. The /pathos, in the 

 fcarlet variety, are not much above half the length of the 

 flender tube, which is about two- thirds as long as the 

 greatly-extended, cylindrical, curved, and ftrongly deflexed 

 throat. The latter exceeds the length of the elliptical, 

 acute, recurved, nearly equal, fegments of the limb. An* 

 thers violet. Stigmas cloven half way down, divaricated. 



8. W. Meriana. Red Watfonia. Ker in Ann. of Bot. 

 n. II. Curt. Mag. t. 1194. Ait. n. 8. (Watfonia; 

 Mill. Ic. t. 276. Antholyza Meriana ; Linn. Sp. PI. 54. 

 Curt. Mag. t. 418. Gladiolus Merianus ; Willd. Sp. PI. 

 V. I. 214. Vahl Enum. v. i. 94. Jacq. Ic. Rar. t. 230. 

 Redout. Liliac. t. 1 1 . Meriana flore rubello ; Trew. 

 Ehret. t. 40. ) 



^. W. angufta; Ker Ann. of Bot. n. 9. (G. Merianas 

 var. Jacq. Ic. Rar. t. 231.) — Throat of the coroUa 

 curved, rather longer than the tube, and longer than 

 the obtufe limb ; tube longer than the fpatha. Leaves 

 fword-fhaped, ereft, with a prominent midrib. — Native of 

 the Cape of Good Hope. Raifed from feed, before 1750, 

 in Chelfea garden, by Miller, who firft gave it the name of 

 Watfonia. A large and handfome fpecies nearly akin to 

 the lait, but fufBciently diftinft, and charafterized by the 

 blunt fegments of its corolla. The proper hue of the 

 jlo-wers is a peculiar falmon-coloured red, rather than a 

 fcarlet, as may be feen in Miller's and Jacquin's figures, 

 and efpecially Curtis's t. 418. But the corolla varies in 

 this rcfpeft, as well as in fize, of which the two ex- 

 tremes are the Botan. Mag. t. 1194, and Jacq. Ic. Rar. 

 t. 231. The latter, which we have never feen in England, 

 was referred to this fpecies by the lite Mr. Dryander, 

 from a drawing fent by Jacquin, how juftly can only be a 

 matter of opinion, unlefs living fpecimens were accurately 

 compared. The fpecies before us flowers with other Cape 

 bulbs in May and June, increafing plentifully by offsets. 



9. W. humilis. Crimfon Watfonia. Mill. Ic. t. 297. 

 f. 2. Ker in Curt. Mag. t. 631. 1195. Ait. n. 9. (Gla- 

 diolus laccatus ; Jacq. Ic. Rar. t. 232. Willd. Sp. PI. 

 v. I. 215.) — Throat of the corolla curved, rather longer 

 than the acute limb ; tube the length of the fpatha. 

 Leaves fword-fhaped, ereft, with a prominent midrib. — 

 Native of the Cape of Good Hope, from whence the feeds 

 were obtained by Miller, in 1754. Much fmaller than 

 feveral of the laft defcribed, beiag feldom above a foot 



high, 



