Cc aharvie@hawknet.com.au Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Reply-To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pacificbulbsociety@lists.mcn.org> Sender: <pacificbulbsociety@lists.mcn.org> Precedence: Bulk X-pstn-levels: (C75.3595 M97.3217 P95.9108 S42.4468 ) X-UIDL: mpI!!6o?"!UC%"!gJ["! Dear All, Lauw wrote the following on the Bulb_Images list "Thank you sharing this image, a very impressive species especially in flower at that time of the year. Tell us some more about this species, how hardy, where does it comes from, makes it seed?" Following my first meeting of Rod and Rachel Saunders and learning that Romulea was Rod's favorite bulb genera I ordered seed of a number of Romuleas. I didn't have all the books I do now about Romuleas so I just picked ones that sounded pretty not looking at habitat at all. A few of my choices never came up and others bloomed last year for the first time. I started seed of this 9/10/99. It started coming up 11/16/99 and this was the first time it bloomed. Andrew Harvie on the Australian lists grows it too and he said his only set three seeds this year. I assume that Rod and Rachel collected in the wild. Perhaps Rachel can tell us more about it. I understood from them that this is a cold area, but I am sure she could elaborate. It is very close to Romulea atrandra which is a spring bloomer. They are distinguished by color and the outer bracts. This one has a triangular green median zone on the bract surrounded by a membranous margin. Bob took some pictures yesterday, but hasn't downloaded them to the computer so we don't know how they turned out, but will post one if we have a good one. The latest Romulea revision Robin Attrill alerted me can be found online http://www.mnhn.fr/publication/adanson/a01n1a4.pdf Anyone interested in Romuleas will probably want to download it. It has some nice drawings of the different corms which is one of the ways you tell them apart. The bracts are also very important. What it says about where this species is found is this "R.h. is known from a small area at the top of Verlate Kloof Pass at the southwestern edge of the Roggeveld Escarpment in Western Cape Province, South Africa" (southwest of Sutherland if you have a map--msi). "It grows on seasonally moist clay flats and is among the earliest species of the southern African winner-rainfall zone to come into flower. The species is readily recognized by the lilac or wistaria blue flowers with a yellow cup and the relatively wide membranous margins of the bracts." I have grown mine after the first year exposed to the elements and dry in summer. Seven seeds germinated and I now have 8 corms so this one is not going to be weedy, but it doesn't seem to be dwindling either and is a nice treat for this time of the year. I am thrilled to have it and grateful to Rod and Rachel for collecting the seed. Mary Sue