Bulbous and Tuberous Rooted Plants

Watsonia aletroides (Burm. f.) Ker-Gawl.

Cormous perennial with sword-shaped leaves and mostly unbranched stems bearing up to 12 tubular orange-red flowers in winter or spring.  To 60cm.  [RHSE, CECB].  

Watsonia borbonica (Pourr.) Goldbl.

Cormous perennial warrowly sword-shaped leaves and branched spikes of up to 20 slightly irregular, purple-pink, rarely white flowers in summer.  To 2m.  [RHSE, CECB].  

Watsonia humilis Mill.

Cormous perennial with sword-shaped leaves and usually unbranched spikes of up to 12 tubular flowers, white with pink outside or pink with darker pink outside, in spring or summer.  To 30cm.  [RHSE, CECB].  

Watsonia hybrids

Undescribed Watsonia hybrids.

Watsonia marginata (L.f.) Ker-Gawl.

Cormous perennial with broad, to 50mm wide, sword-shaped leaves and branched stems of few to many tubular, mauve-pink flowers, rarely white or purple, with white and purple markings in spring and early summer.  To 2m.  [RHSE, Hortus, CECB].  

Watsonia meriana (L.) Mill.

Cormous perennial with sword-shaped leaves and branched spikes of up to 25 tubular, bright red, occasionally scarlet or white, flowers in summer.  To 2m.  Sometimes produces cormels at the leaf nodes.  [RHSE, CECB, Hortus].  

Watsonia meriana (L.) Mill. var. fulgens

For a description of the species see Watsonia meriana (L.) Mill.  Fulgens is a variety with bright scarlet flowers.  [RHSD].

Watsonia species flesh-coloured

An unidentified Watsonia species or hybrid.  No description other than flesh-coloured flowers.

x Amarygia parkeri ‘Ameliae’

A cultivar of x Amarygia parkeri (W.Watson) H.E.Moore. In this case a first generation hybrid between Amaryllis belladonna, the seed parent, and Brunsvigis josephinae.

John Bidwill made a number of references to ‘Ameliae’ in his notebook.  In 1841/42, he wrote:

A. belladonna by A. Josephiniana.  This cross is easily affected – a much larger quantity of seeds are formed by A. belladonna when impregnated by A. Josephiniana or Brunsvigia multiflora than are ever produced in a naturally impregnated seed vessel – the seedlings are not very distinguishable from the pure ones of the same plants; there are however many different looking plants among the seedlings so that we may expect considerable variety in the flowers – some are at least 5 times as large as others – some have broad, some narrow leaves – Oct 20/42.  At this time their second hibernation is commencing, the bulbs vary from 1 by ¾ to 3 by 1 inch in size.  March 1847.  Flowered at Camden – see Amaryllis Ameliae p7.  [Bidwill p.4].

Later he gave a detailed description of the flowers:

Amaryllis Ameliae or Josephini-belladonna flowered in March 1847.  Named in compliment to Mrs James Macarthur.  Scape 18 inches high, section elliptic, spathe purplish green, rather persistent, peduncles 3¾ inch; germen triangular, angles [undeciphered] – corolla 4 inches – segments ¾  wide, 2 upper sepalous segments reflexed as in Josephiniana – colour purplish rose variegated with white, but turning dark after expansion – Stamens 1½ inch, shorter than segments of corolla, white at base, coloured at tips.  Anthers purple before bursting.  Pollen hardly [undeciphered].  Flowers disposed in a somewhat circular manner, but a little inclined to one side.  2 plants flowered as above a 3rd with 19 flowers on a shorter scape, the flowers shorter and wider & an almost spherical germen.  [Bidwill p.7].

No detailed description of the leaves is given.

A plant from South Australia, sold to me as x Amarygia parkeri, first flowered in my garden in the autumn of 2004.  Its scape was 85cm tall, green, purplish-red at the base, bearing an umbel of 26 flowers, narrowly-funnel-shaped, up to 11cm long and 6cm across when fully expanded, very distinctly curved to present as a boat-shape.  The upper perianth segments were strongly reflexed when fully expanded, the lower hardly at all, the colour a very deep rose, paler at the base of the tube, slightly yellowish, the anthers distinctly purple before ripening.  Individual flowers were held almost horizontally on pedicels to 25cm long, although usually somewhat shorter, and purplish-green.  When the majority of flowers were open the inflorescence resembled a flat-bottomed sphere in shape.  The flowers were very strongly and pleasantly fragrant.  The leaves, oblong in shape with a rounded end, are similar to a broad-leaved Amaryllis belladonna but wider, the longest measuring 51cm and 6cm across at the broadest point near the centre.  It flowered again in 2005 with 34 flowers in the umbel.  In 2005 I had the opportunity of examining nine other plants in flower.  Although varying in size and height of scape they appeared otherwise identical, the inflorescences consisting of from 19-30 flowers.  Although different to ‘Ameliae’ in some respects, particularly length of pedicel, I have little doubt that this plant is of the same origin, i.e. a first generation hybrid of Amaryllis belladonna and a Brunsvigia species, probably josephinae.  The names under which it is often sold in South Australia, x Amarygia parkeri and Brunsvigia josephinae, are descriptive of this likely origin.  The differences between this plant and Bidwill’s ‘Ameliae’ are to be expected between individuals and clones in a first generation cross and were alluded to by Bidwill in his notebook and in a letter to The Gardeners’ Chronicle.  [GC p.470/1850].

x Amarygia parkeri ‘Blando-Josephiniana’

A cultivar of x Amarygia parkeri (W.Watson) H.E.Moore. I have seen no descriptions of this cross in flower.  As a first generation cross between Amaryllis belladonna L. var. blanda and Brunsvigia josephinae it would presumably have resembled other clones of this cross, ‘Ameliae’ for example, which see.  It perhaps would have resembled the ‘Kew Belladonna’ described in detail in the Botanical and Horticultural History section, although the origin of this cross, the type x Amarygia parkeri, is still not fully understood.  For illustration I have used a beautiful form of x Amarygia which grows at Camden Park and very much resembles the first colour depiction of x Amarygia of which I am aware, a water colour painted by Miss Fletcher at Camden Park in 1866. 

Zantedeschia aethiopica (L.) Spreng.

Half-hardy, evergreen clump-forming, rhizomatous perennial with glossy, arrow shaped leaves and a succession of pure white flowers in summer.  The flowers are actually very small, surrounded by a large, showy, pure white spathe.  To 1.2m.  [RHSE, CECB, Hortus]. 

Zephyranthes atamasco (L.) Herb.

A bulbous perennial, the basal leaves are semi-erect and strap-shaped, the scentless funnel-shaped white flowers, sometimes flushed with purple, appearing in spring or summer.  To 30cm.  [RHS, Hortus, Baker Am.].  

Zephyranthes candida (Lindl.) Herb.

A hardy evergreen bulbous perennial with narrow, sword-shaped foliage and white, crocus-like flowers in autumn.  [RHSD, Hortus].  Sometimes mistaken for Zephyranthes atamasco [Hortus].

Zephyranthes lindleyana Herb.

Bulbous perennial with narrow, linear leaves, to 50cm long, produced with the solitary, crocus-like, rose-coloured flowers, to 5cm long, in spring.  [RHSD, Baker Am.].  

Zephyranthes minuta (Kunth) D.Dietr.

It is possible that the plant listed in the catalogues as Zephyranthes rosea is Zephyranthes minuta (Kunth) D.Dietr., synonym Zephyranthes rosea Hort. This plant was known commonly in the nursery trade as Zephyranthes grandiflora (another synonym) from the early to mid 19^th century and was often confused with Zephyranthes rosea Lindl. in the trade [Hortus]. It is a bulbous perennial with narrowly strap-shaped leaves, erect and spreading, and rose pink flowers.  It has longer, brighter pink flowers than the true Z. rosea.  [RHSD, Hortus].