Romuleas in bloom
Mary Sue Ittner (Tue, 25 Feb 2003 23:18:31 PST)

Dear All,

I continue to have one Romulea bloom after another. I find this a very
satisfying genus since if you grow quite a few different species the bloom
time is really extended. And they often bloom the second or third year from
seed. I have been adding pictures to the Romulea wiki page:
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
I am hoping to convince Mary Wise that they really are worth growing.

Lauw questioned the identity of one I showed earlier that I had grown from
seed from Dirk Wallace from Australia as Romulea komsbergensis. Lauw
uploaded some images of ones he grew which I added to the wiki. His
questioning me made realize I hadn't tried to key it out which Robin
Attrill has pointed out is really necessary with Romulea seed. I have had
many disappointments so should have done it right away. I have three
Romulea monographs for South African Romuleas so that really helps as does
the new Encyclopedia. Plus a couple of weeks after the first one bloomed I
also had a bloom of another Romulea komsbergensis from IBSA seed. From a
distance the two plants looked a lot alike, but when I examined them
closely they were very different. Romulea komsbergensis has a brown center
in the middle of the yellow cup. The backs were different and the bracts
were different too. I think the one from Dirk could be Romulea cruciata. It
least is fits perfectly except I'll have to wait to look at the corm. It
looks a bit like Lauw's picture of Romulea rosea. The shape of the corm of
R. cruciata and rosea is different so we shall see. The colors of the
flowers, the bracts, the size of the flowers and the back of the petals of
the plant from Dirk all fit for Romulea cruciata.

Also blooming for the first time is a small bright pink flower that was
supposed to be Romulea monticola and is probably Romulea rosea and will not
be kept.

I have a couple of European ones in bloom right now. Romulea linaresii I
like even though it has a small flower, but I was really impressed with the
bloom of a Romulea I got from Jane's surplus sale. She called it Romulea
clusiana. I notice that sometimes that species is called Romulea
bulbocodium var. clusiana. What do most people call it? It is really
pretty. The one my husband photographed today is notched. Is that usual?

I also have about four yellow flowered species in bloom I haven't included
pictures of. There is at least one I need to figure out. Romulea flava is a
long blooming species. I have white and yellow flowered varieties. And I
like Romulea diversiformis a lot too even though I find it hard to
photograph. Eventually I'll add some pictures of the yellow ones.

Since Mark asked I added a couple of Oxalis pictures to the Oxalis page to
keep Sheila's palmifrons company. This time of the year I just love Oxalis
obtusa and am so grateful that I got introduced to it.

Mary Sue