Mandragora officinarum
Rodger Whitlock (Wed, 25 Feb 2004 15:28:10 PST)
On 21 Feb 04 at 17:25, Brian Whyer wrote:
Can someone tell me if Mandragora officinarum is self fertile.
Should I be out there in the cold tickling it to help it along. It
has looked like this link
http://pharm1.pharmazie.uni-greifswald.de/allgemei…
mand ra-o.jpg for some weeks and has several flowers to "open" yet.
It reminds me of Audrey2 in the film Little Shop of Horrors, but I
have not heard it scream yet.
My impression (not one formed by careful scientific observation,
admittedly) is that the mandrakes need a bit of warmth to be
fertilized. As far as I know they are self fertile -- after all, they
are solanaceous and that family is not known for self-sterility.
If your plants are young, don't expect fruit. Mine have taken 5 to
10 years to reach the fruiting stage.
BTW, does anyone grow Mandragora officinarum ssp. haussknechtii?
And does anyone know a *good* modern treatment of genus Mandragora?
The references I have are totally confusing.
On 21 Feb 04 at 17:48, John Grimshaw wrote:
Mandragora officinarum is self-fertile - at least my solitary plant
sets a good crop of fat fruits each year. I assume the bees do the
job of pollination. How to get the seed to germinate is another
matter!
In the first edition of his Gardening Dictionary, Miller says the
seeds must be fresh; but my plants all originated from exchange seed
sown long after harvest.
Sow the silly things, put the pot in a coldframe, and wait. They'll
come up.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate
on beautiful Vancouver Island