Flores and Watson old Leucocoryne seed

Diane Whitehead voltaire@islandnet.com
Tue, 23 Dec 2003 21:28:43 PST
This year's Flores and Watson seedlist had an extra sheet of old 
seeds, including a collection of Alstroemeria and one of Leucocoryne, 
a genus I just discovered this year, on this list, and of which I 
have so far never seen a plant.  The pbs discussion and pictures 
roused plant lust, and I have been ordering seed wherever I've seen 
it.  (So far, the Alpine Garden Society, Plant World and F & W, all 
sown today.)

I was a bit leery of paying real money for old seeds, but a Chilean 
study had proved that Leucocoryne seeds just left lying around at 
room temperature were still good until they were 2.3 years old, and 
would be totally dead at 6 years.  I was sure that Watson and Cheese 
(his U.K. colleague) would have treated the seed better than that, so 
it seemed a good gamble.  The Chilean botanist had soaked the seed 
for 4 days.  I set out to do that, but the days stretched to 6. 
Tonight I sowed the soaked seed and found that one, L. incrassata, 
had already germinated.  That was a very cheering sight.

The species I got from F & W are: appendiculata, coquimbensis, 
incrassata, ixioides, macropetala, purpurea, vittata.  Some of the 
seed was measured out generously enough that I will be able to try 
some bulbs outside when they seem big enough.

-- 
Diane Whitehead  Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
maritime zone 8
cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually)
sandy soil


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