New photos on wiki

John Lonsdale john@johnlonsdale.net
Sun, 12 Oct 2003 12:23:46 PDT
Jane wrote

"However, I was not able to access the Colchicum page to edit it, so there 
is no description yet. This is a name that one authority (Brickell, I 
think, though the entry is unsigned) says is a variant of C. cupanii; 
however, as you can see in the photo, the leaves are much broader and 
longer at anthesis than is typical of C. cupanii as I have seen it. The 
deep purple anthers are quite striking. This is a very small Colchicum 
species and usually blooms earlier here.  Both these were taken today,  Oct.
12. I also tried to photograph Narcissus humilis, but I could not get the
digital camera to focus on it properly, so I'll take a slide just to prove I
flowered it (once, probably)."

I grow this colchicum as C. cupanii var. glossophyllum, mine was an
accession of Mike Salmon's.  I have no clue as to the 'correct' nomenclature
but I do have a variety of forms, vars. and sub-species which have
tremendous variation in flowering time, color and leaf morphology.  Like
most of the rest of the genus, the nomenclature is a mess.  Most are lovely.
I flowered several forms of Narcissus serotinus this fall, also two ssp. of
N. humilis.  They certainly need heat to ripen but the bulbs also need to be
a certain size.  The N. humilis flower reliably, N. serotinus less so.  I
also flowered N. perezlarae, the hybrid between N. cavanillesii and N.
serotinus.  I'm thinking that cavanillesii is synonymous with humilis, maybe
superceded it?  Either way the hybrid is lovely and very variable in color
from a good yellow to a creamy pale yellow.

J.


Dr John T Lonsdale,
407 Edgewood Drive,
Exton, Pennsylvania 19341,  USA

Home:  610 594 9232
Cell:  484 678 9856
Fax:   801 327 1266

Visit "Edgewood" - The Lonsdale Garden at http://www.edgewoodgardens.net/

USDA Zone 6b



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