Gymnospermium altaicum + Triteleia laxa 'Humbolt Star'
Antennaria@aol.com (Thu, 20 Feb 2003 20:50:04 PST)

I grow the oddity Gymnospermium altaicum. My experiences with it sound
similar to Jane McGary's and John Lonsdale's experience, but I'll try an add
a few personal observations.

The leaves are most intriguing when they first emerge, being very reddish and
with rolled margins to the divided leaflets. Later the leaf goes over to a
silvery-bluish color and the leaf margins expand, to reveal little, blunt,
five-fingered leaflets about 1" above soil level. The leaf shoots emerge
around the periphery of the tuber. The yellow flowers are small and quaint,
only reaching a couple more inches in height. I have not observed any seed
production. By late June the whole affair has disappeared underground for
another year. I have posted a picture on the PBS wiki at:

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/…

(if you look in the upper left corner of the photo, some buds are showing).

I have also created a Gymnospermium page on PBS wiki, and added a link to
Arnold Trachtenberg's closeup photo of G. albertii.

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And as a promised follow-up to a thread on Triteleia, I finally located my
photo of one of Jim Robinett's superior bulb selections: Triteleia laxa
'Humbolt Star'. It's located at:
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/…

I see that Mary Sue has been busy adding to the Triteleia PBS wiki page!

Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States
antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5
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alliums, bulbs, penstemons, hardy hibiscus, western
american alpines, iris, plants of all types!