Watsonia meriana bulbilifera

Roy M. Sachs rmsachs@ucdavis.edu
Tue, 12 Aug 2003 09:21:02 PDT
>Dear All,
>
>Last week we were able to drive by one of the weedy public patches 
>of Watsonia that I mentioned earlier. We didn't get a chance to stop 
>and take a picture until we were on our way home and then it was 
>late in the day and not everything is in focus. But you can see the 
>potential problem with this species when you look at all those 
>bulbils on one stalk! Think of them all falling off and extending in 
>all directions. They can root right on top of the soil. I was paying 
>attention as we drove and there are some really bad patches next to 
>the highway and other places where they are only a few plants now, 
>but will be hundreds in years to come. These pictures were taken 
>right along Highway One next to Salt Point State Park. I added the 
>text below and pictures to the wiki:
>
>Watsonia meriana ssp. bulbilifera produces bubils in the leaf axis 
>and in the right climate can become a big pest as it has in coastal 
>northern California. These two photos by Bob Rutemoeller although 
>not very clear show the large number of bubils and the drying 
>foliage which makes an ugly and ever extending display along Highway 
>One in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.
>http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/…
>http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/…
>
>Roy, if your plants did not produce these bubils maybe what you have 
>is not the problem plant.
>
>Mary Sue

Mary Sue:  Thanks for posting the fine pics, just what I needed for 
comparison with stuff that I've grown.


So far none of my orange-salmon watsonia have produced bulbils on the 
inflorescence axes.

I wonder about climate and/or cultural conditions on inflorescence 
development, but I'm inclined to agree that I'm dealing with a 
non-pernicious watsonia.

Roy


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