Jane, N. rupicola is one of the most variable species I have observed in Spain over the last 16 year of visits to its mountainous sites. Most come with one flower per stem, but I have often seen two and on two occasions three. One is certainly preferable. With the ovary sessile to the stalk, the heads are far too crowded and stiff when more than one is present. Have seen flowers from 1.0 cm to 4.5 cm in diameter in colors ranging from faded yellow to the typical bright deep yellow. Coronas very from trim and straight to blousy, ruffled, scalloped and expanded. The stem height is also widely variable. If you have the original collection data, do you have a location? N. rupicola is widely spread north and west of Madrid clear through into Portugal. It has also been reported south of Madrid. Each population is a slightly different, but most are a bit trimer in appearance than those in your picture. I have only seen N. cuatrecasasii segimonensis in mountains south of Madrid and in much smaller and more scattered populations. It is an extremely tidy and precise bloom, and as Harold noted, has three anthers exerted. Unfortunately all of my pictures were taken before acquiring a digital camera. Should I be fortunate enough to see both of these next month, I will post pictures. Kathy Andersen ksa@del.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Jane McGary To: Pacific Bulb Society Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 12:46 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] New photos and questions Regarding the identity of the plant on the wiki as http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/… Harold Koopowitz wrote that it appeared to be Narcissus rupicola: "Both species are quite variable with regards, size of plant, leaves, size of flower, height and time of flowering.I have examined both species in Spain. N. cuatrecasasii has three stamens sticking into the corona and there are three in the tube. In N. rupicola all six stamens are in the tube. In N. rupicola the opening to the tube is restricted, in N. cuatrecasasii it is wider. N. rupicola often has a pronouncedly scalloped and shallower, flatter corona like your flowers show, while in the other the corona is more of an acorn-cup shape. One definite way to tell is to remove the flower sheath. N. rupicola has amost no pedicel = stalk between the ovary and flower stem, while N. cuatrecasasii has a pedicel about 1 cm long. Check yours out and let me know." This morning I did that. There are 8 flowers in the pot of seedlings, some of which are identical clones, since it has been repotted since originally being grown from seed. Two of the 8 flowers have almost no pedicel. One has an 8 mm pedicel, and the rest have pedicels from 4 to 6 mm long. None have exserted stamens and all have flaring, scalloped coronas. All of them have an angle at the point where the tube opens, rather than flaring gradually, but in no case is the tube constricted at this point. Does this mean that these plants represent hybridizing (possibly in the supplier's collection, even though the seed was supplied with a collector's number)? What should I call this pot of narcissi? How about "Tall N. rupicola hybrids"? It's so different from any others I have that I want to keep it. Thanks, Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon. USA _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php
