Mystery plant

Mary Sue Ittner msittner@mcn.org
Sun, 23 Mar 2003 09:26:16 PST
Dear All,

In case you are new to this list since this url was posted I will repeat it 
and later add this url to the South African Romulea page:
http://www.mnhn.fr/publication/adanson/a01n1a4.pdf

It is a pdf file for the latest Romulea revision by Goldblatt and Manning. 
It is better than the Encyclopedia because it includes all South African 
species including ones from Namaqualand and the summer rainfall areas. It 
does however leave out the Mediterranean Romuleas so that makes using it to 
key out something a bit challenging.

Please look at page 7 to get a wonderful diagram of the corm types. I keep 
harping on this, but it really is important. I have thought I had one 
nailed only to find out later in dormancy the corm is wrong so I then have 
to start over. Now I describe the corm in dormancy so when the plant is 
blooming I have a starting reference which really speeds up the process.

I wanted to show a picture of this one because it is so commonly being 
offered in seed exchanges under the wrong name. I imagine there are quite a 
few people in this group growing it. I keep trying to grow Romulea 
bulbocodium from seed and so far it has never been it. Thanks Angelo for 
the pictures of it growing in the wild. The Romulea clusiana from Jane 
(great plant!) is so much more impressive than this little thing.

I am sure the Mystery plant has to be the Romulea that Mary Wise has 
scoffed at. Romulea tabularis flowers are much bigger. R. minutiflora 
flowers are 7-15mm, R. tabularis are 15-35mm. R. minutiflora corms are 
elongated vertically with a high crescent-shaped basal ridge, R. tabularis 
corms have a crescent-shaped ridge but are not elongated vertically or just 
barely so. The leaves are different too with R. minutiflora having more, 
kind of in bundles. It looks like the bracts are different too. I am going 
to go out and look at mine to see if they fit Alberto's identification and 
check it with the other possibility the next time they open but am 
suspecting that they will and am grateful to know what they are. I will not 
be saving the seed and will be tossing my plants because of the weed 
potential. However if there is someone who wants them I will let them dry 
out and send them to Dell for the BX. Just contact me privately.

Another Romulea equally small is Romulea ramiflora which is a Medit 
species. I thought it too could be a possibility but don't have a picture 
of it in my books. It is mentioned in Innes so I guess I should take that 
book out with me too and read the descriptions over slowly and try to make 
out what they are saying.

Mary Sue


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