Mystery Fritillaria + 3 new Frit Photos
Jamie (Sat, 12 Jun 2004 04:58:19 PDT)

Jane,

although I agree, the main purpose in "namings" for many is simply to give
the appearance of offering something new and wonderful (possibly honouring a
person on the side!), often the variations do merit recognition on the
horticultural level. As gardeners, we are acutely aware of robustness,
variation in form and colour and cultural worthiness, while as botanist,
such qualities are of little worth in identification or recognition on the
specific or sometimes variatel/sub-species level.

I, also, do not wish to spend money on an item that is identiacal to what I
have, but variation and distinction I do appreciate. Fortunately, the best
of suppliers will note that the entity offered may well not deserve
recognition on a specific level, but is of interest to the gardener and
maintaining true and pure stocks of the form is to lauded. A name is
required for identification, whether botanically recognised or not. I
believe we can all appreciate this situation, where does one draw the line?
I've always appreciated the listing of Paeonia and Fritillaria species with
collection information and form designations, even when associated to
species nomenclature, as this allows me to organise what I am growing and
keep an eye out for variation and lack there of!

In a world ever more saturated by clonal forms on the commercial market, I
long for the variation of wild forms. I guess this is why most of us take
the long course and raise from seed.

Ciao,

Jamie V.
Cologne

list