Paeonia × chameleon was RE: Maryland update

JamieV. jamievande@freenet.de
Thu, 01 Mar 2007 10:40:55 PST
Jim McKenney schrieb:
> Lola mentioned a peony named 'Chameleon'.
>
> Although an IPNI search turned up nothing, one site gives this citation:
> Paeonia × chameleon Troitsky (1930) ex Grossg
>
> Several comments: I'm surprised at the spelling chameleon - that's an
> Americanism, isn't it? I would have expected chamaeleon. Does anyone know if
> the authors of this name are Americans? 
> The author was apparently Georgian, Dr. Kemularia-Nathadze and the spelling I have seen is P. x chamaeleon, with the dypthong 'OE'.
> Given the parentage, I am surprised that Lola is experiencing quick
> germination. Lola, what exactly is happening? I'll bet a root tip is
> emerging from the seed. If so, this seedling is likely to require a cold
> period before it will produce foliage. 
I can concur with Lola, they do seem to be the fastest germinators I've experienced, showing leaves the following Spring.

>  In one of those fascinatingly serendipitous coincidences, I just got confirmation that this
> fall I will be receiving a long-desired Saunders hybrid peony named
> 'Athena'. This hybrid bears some resemblance to this Paeonia × chameleon:
> both have pinkish white flowers with a strong pinkish-red splash of color at
> the base of the petals. 
>   
Spot on!  I grow 'Athena' as well and, other than height and leaf, which 
by 'Chamaeleon' is much more gold-green and taller, the flowers are 
similar.  'Athena' is a bit smaller, however.  Let's not forget, 
'Chamaeleon' is not a clone, it is a generic hybrid, therefore variation 
will occur. Also, I read its parentage as P. mlokosiewiczi x P 
caucasica' and the parentage of 'P. Athena' as P. lactiflora x (P. 
macrophylla x (P.mlokosieviczi x P. officianalis), which sounds 
improbable, but, who knows.
> That they look a bit alike is no accident: 'Athena' was reposted to have
> Paeonia macrophylla (wittmanniana) and  P. mlokosewitschii in its ancestry.
> P. mlokosewitschii, P. macrophylla, P. wittmanniana and P. caucasica are now
> sometimes considered to be forms of P. daurica, so this old hybrid and this
> P. × chameleon must share many genetic similarities. 
>   

I'm not sure I would lump these species together, as they seem to 
represent speciation and are generally identifyable as seperate.  The 
entire species concept is artificial, so lets just continue in this vein 
and acknowledge the differences!  I didn't realise all were currently 
placed under P. daurica (which apparently should have been P. taurica, 
but was falsely transcribed, being named after the Taurus Mountainrange),

> Life is beautiful -- and complex!
>   
I hear ya!  By the was, I posted shots on the wiki some years ago of 
both P. 'Athena' and P. xchamaeleon.

Jamie V.
Cologne


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