Aristea ecklonii v Libertia caerulea
Paul Tyerman (Sun, 19 Oct 2003 18:18:45 PDT)

Howdy All,

I was at a nursery yesterday and hving a discussion with the owners about a
couple of things that they are growing. Knowing I was a bit of an uncommon
plant collector they asked me whether I knew the differences between
Aristea ecklonii and Libertia caerulea? I can't find any information on
the latter so I thought I'd ask here and see what responses I got. I
realise not technically a bulb, but I figure it is definitely within the
realm of what we all grow here, so it should be acceptable?

The 2 plants they were growing under the separate names were identical, to
the point that I think they were both Aristea ecklonii which fitted the
bill perfectly from references. Is Libertia caerulea an older name, does
it even exist as a name or is it just a complete mislabelling? The plants
they had had very distinct flattened stems, with clusters (umbells?) of
flowers on the end of each branch of the stem. A lovely intense mid-blue
to mauvey colour (difficult to describe). Whatever they are they are very
nice, but they were wanting to find out for sure whether the Libertia was a
mislabelling.

I have searched on "Libertia caerulea" on google and not got a single
match, so I have to wonder re existence/spelling? A similar search of
"Libertia caerula" brings up a single nursery that stocks it (Dancing Oaks
nursery).

Can anyone help?

Cheers.

Paul Tyerman
Canberra, Australia. USDA equivalent - Zone 8/9
mailto:ptyerman@ozemail.com.au

Growing.... Galanthus, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Cyclamen, Crocus,
Cyrtanthus, Oxalis, Liliums, Hellebores, Aroids, Irises plus just about
anything else that doesn't move!!!!!