Crinum Pt Claire, and pollen question
Johnson3591@aol.com (Sun, 18 Jan 2004 08:29:31 PST)

Hi,

I've noticed C. bulbispermum is fairly promiscuous, in terms of accepting
pollen. This discussion has been helpful to reinforce that idea.

I do wonder about pollination attempts that don't work. Is C. bulbispermum
as good as it gets in terms of accepting pollen? For instance, if pollen fails
on C. bulbispermum, does it mean that the pollen was probably at fault?

I've tried pollen from two slightly-different 'Ellen Bosanquet'-like
pass-along plants. They don't set seeds on their own, and they don't seem to accept
pollen from any other source. So, I tried their pollen on C. bulbispermum. C.
bulbispermum doesn't set seed with their pollen; likewise, C. bulbispermum
did not accept pollen from Crinum x 'Bradley'.

Is there such a thing as a "reliable" acceptor of Crinum pollen? Such a
plant would be a "gold standard." If it didn't accept pollen you could assume
that the pollen was not going to be accepted by most other Crinum.

If anyone has information about Crinum pollen and pollen acceptors, I'd enjoy
hearing about your experiences. I wonder if there is a reference source
somewhere.

Cordially,

Joe
Conroe TX, zone 9