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Watsonia densiflora; photograph (c) Morten Ross, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) Morten Ross, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-01-26

Watsonia densiflora Baker

Dense Watsonia; Natal Watsonia

Iridaceae · Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal · listed by its family as a bulb, tuber or caudex

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Watsonia densiflora, photograph (c) Sunčana Bradley, some rights reserved (CC BY)Watsonia densiflora, photograph (c) Sunčana Bradley, some rights reserved (CC BY)Watsonia densiflora, photograph (c) Janet Gates, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Watsonia densiflora, photograph (c) Morten Ross, some rights reserved (CC BY)Watsonia densiflora, photograph (c) Morten Ross, some rights reserved (CC BY)Watsonia densiflora, photograph (c) Morten Ross, some rights reserved (CC BY) 73 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
4.2°C
Record low 0.9 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
25°C
Jan and Feb at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,003mm
11 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
21–37DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes April to September (October to March at the habitat), read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Watsonia densiflora is a plant belonging to the genus Watsonia. The species is endemic to KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Watsonia densiflora", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as a bulb, tuber or caudex, listed under the family Iridaceae in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “tuberous geophyte”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (746 mm of 988 mm) falls in October to March, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 20.4 °C against a yearly mean of 18.2 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: April to September.

Rain

988 mm in the median year at the habitat, 746 mm of it October to March. Wettest month January at 142 mm, driest month June at 22 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 824 mm to 1,235 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,003 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 988 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 21 to 37 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 19, the highest 90th-percentile month 39).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 4.2 °C, the absolute minimum 0.9 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 32.4 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 8.0 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range 0.7 °C to 14.0 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 25.1 °C in February (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 4.2 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 54 to 67% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +151 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the family Iridaceae in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “tuberous geophyte”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Watsonia densiflora through the yearWarmest months January and February, mean daily high 25 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low 8.0 °C; 988 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost32.4° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER0.9° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200mm rainDLI 21–37RH 54–67%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 102 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C25 / 22–2625 / 22–2624 / 21–2623 / 19–2422 / 17–2320 / 14–2120 / 14–2121 / 17–2221 / 19–2322 / 19–2323 / 20–2424 / 22–25
Night °C18 / 12–2118 / 13–2117 / 11–2115 / 8–1911 / 4–178 / 1–148 / 1–1410 / 3–1512 / 6–1613 / 8–1715 / 10–1817 / 11–20
Rain mm142 / 124–181125 / 111–160108 / 87–15057 / 45–8031 / 17–4422 / 16–4428 / 15–4538 / 25–5766 / 43–100105 / 88–127127 / 108–159139 / 124–166
DLI36 / 34–3935 / 33–3731 / 30–3227 / 26–2823 / 22–2521 / 19–2322 / 21–2426 / 24–2829 / 28–3332 / 30–3435 / 33–3737 / 34–39
RH %67 / 63–6867 / 63–6866 / 62–6763 / 58–6457 / 53–5954 / 51–5754 / 50–5656 / 52–5960 / 55–6364 / 60–6565 / 61–6666 / 62–68
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 102 grid cells holding the 289 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2395:4213 (-29.775, 30.675). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 0.9 °C, 1st-percentile night 4.2 °C, 99th-percentile day 32.4 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 102 distinct grid cells holding 289 of the 289 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2395:4213 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -30.00_30.625, lapse-corrected +151 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 598 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeCape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-29.824, 30.185 · in the densest population, 345 records (90% of those in range)
Kew's description“tuberous geophyte” · “subtropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 382 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 289 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 138 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 11 km away. 23 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 93 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 382 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Watsonia densiflora, photograph 1did not loadWatsonia densiflora, photograph 2did not loadWatsonia densiflora, photograph 3did not loadWatsonia densiflora, photograph 4did not loadWatsonia densiflora, photograph 5did not loadWatsonia densiflora, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Sunčana Bradley, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Janet Gates, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA); (c) Morten Ross, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Streptocarpus haygarthii Streptocarpus haygarthii Gesneriaceae Photo: CC BY, Mahomed DesaiAlberta magna Alberta magna Magnificent-flame Photo: CC BY-SA, Tony RebeloLedebouria floribunda Ledebouria floribunda Spotted African hyacinth Photo: CC BY, Sunčana BradleyHypoxis colchicifolia Hypoxis colchicifolia Broad-Leaved Hypoxis Photo: CC BY-SA, Dylan Leonard Ceropegia flavida Apocynaceae Callilepis laureola Callilepis laureola Black Eyed Susan Photo: CC BY, Sunčana Bradley

Other Watsonia 15 in the reference

Watsonia aletroides Watsonia aletroides Renoster Watsonia Photo: CC BY-SA, Dave UWatsonia angusta Watsonia angusta Narrow Watsonia Photo: CC BY, Shaun SwanepoelWatsonia borbonica Watsonia borbonica Bugle-lily Photo: CC BY, Patrick JacksonWatsonia coccinea Watsonia coccinea Dwarf Watsonia Photo: CC BY-SA, Tony RebeloWatsonia fourcadei Watsonia fourcadei Forked Watsonia Photo: CC BY, ChristinaWatsonia humilis Watsonia humilis Shy Watsonia Photo: CC BY-SA, Brian du PreezWatsonia knysnana Watsonia knysnana Pink Gardenroute Watsonia Photo: CC0, author not statedWatsonia laccata Watsonia laccata Coastal Watsonia Photo: CC0, author not statedWatsonia lepida Watsonia lepida Lonesome Watsonia Photo: CC BY, Morten Ross Watsonia × longifolia Iridaceae Watsonia marginata Watsonia marginata Fragrant bugle-lily Photo: CC BY, Charleen BrunkeWatsonia meriana Watsonia meriana Bulbil bugle-lily Photo: CC BY, Austen Armstrong all 16 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Watsonia densiflora var. alba; Watsonia neglecta; Watsonia plantii. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Iridaceae
Described by
Baker
Native to
Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal
Wild records
382 in range · 138 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -30.00_30.625, lapse-corrected +151 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 10 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

Opening your plants…