[AB_images] Crinum Niagra Park - Peeping Tom
annejim (Mon, 19 Jan 2004 22:46:06 PST)

Hi David,

The question you raised about x Powellii hybrids and their ability
to be used in further breeding was answered some years ago by Les
Hannibal and his contemporaries. The problem of being able to produce
F1 hybrids and finding that hybrid sterility prevents the F2 stage
where you would expect to find the expression of some recessive
qualities has been a confounding factor in Crinum breeding. He found
that reverse back crosses using x powellii pollen on to select forms
of C. moorei or C. bulbispermum was feasible with some grexs and
that many of the progeny of these crosses were vigorous and themselves
seed viable eg. C. 'Virginia Lee' and C. 'Cecil Houdyshel' (C. moorei
var makoyanam x C. bulbispermum album).
An example of the backcross is C. Janice Gale = C. Cecil Houdysel x C.
bulbispermum 'Sacramento'(polyploidal). Les Hannibal advocated that the
best option is to use or create polyploidal hybrids as these more often
retain seeding fertility.

Some of these x powellii hybrids may add other complexities, for
instance he mentioned that C.'Cecil Houdyshel' ( an amphiodiploid
hybrid) if selfed, yields polyploidal moorei forms and sterile plants
looking like C. bulbispermum album. .
David Fenwick mentioned that many colour forms of x powellii were
created around 1900 by the Belgium nursery Van Tubergen , - it is known
that they made use of the form of C. moorei called var makoyanam that
was dark coral pink coloured with very robust foliage and growth for
the majority of their pink x powellii cultivars and that in these
instances C. moorei was the seed parent.

Hence the use of large vigorous hybrid forms is favoured for this
approach and the fact that they have been amply created in the past can
be noted from the Crinum hybrids you have been finding in the older
garden scape of Sydney and the Central Coast. I have recently read that
Les as well as other Crinum hybridisers also made use of mutating
chemicals on Crinum hybrid seeds in order to induce polyploidy.

It appears that there are a lot of these x powellii backcrosses crosses
in the USA that have been given other hybrid and grex names and are
hence disguised in relation to their x powellii origins.

Cheers

Jim Lykos
Blue Mountains
Zone 9b/10

David Sneddon wrote: