Flora Detail

Common Name Mountain Watsonia
Family Iridaceae (Irises and Allies)
Date Observed 13-01-2023
Category Bulbs/Rhizomes
Catalogue No. 7768RG
Flowering Time Summer
Colour Orange
Locations Observed
Estuary
Koppie
Nature Reserve
Small Holding
Village
Greater Rooiels Few,Many

Watsonia schlechteri

Information

Mountain Watsonia

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Watsonia schlechteri braves the summer heat to flower brightly amongst the dry fynbos. Hikers in the Kogelberg mountains, sweating in the heat, are rewarded by splashes of orange red against the slopes. The watsonias are visited by the Mountain Pride butterflies and nectar-feeding birds, like the orange-breasted sugarbird and malachite bird. These watsonias are not clump forming and appear as solitary plants scattered in the Kogelberg Mountains and elsewhere in the Western Cape.