I am interested in Cymbidiums and also Zygopetalum, Stephen Monkhouse is doing breeding crosses to make smaller more floriferous plants, with nice scents. Angela Angelasgarden@bigpond.com.au ----- Original Message ----- From: Dennis Szeszko <dszeszko@gmail.com> To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2005 2:41 AM Subject: [pbs] hybridizing compatibility among Amarylllidaceae > Alberto: > > I think that it was a cross with Zephyranthes nelsonii. I make this > assumption based on the fact that both species grow in the same environment, > both flower at the same time, and both likely have similar pollinators. I > forgot to mention in my previous email that the > Sprekelia-Zephyrantheshybrid had flowers that bent over in the same > fashion as Habranthus > and Hippeastrum. They did not open straight up like in other species of > Zephyranthes. > > My main area of research is orchids so the study of bulbs in the field is > merely a hobby for me. Incidentally, I haven't really been in the field a > lot in the last year, because I've been working in different herbaria. I'm > going to start doing fieldwork starting in 2006 so hopefully I will be able > to share a lot more information with members of this list about Mexican > bulbs and post a lot of pictures to the wiki. I want to post pictures of > Zephyranthes, Polianthes, Tigridia, and many other uncommon Irids, because > they are rare in cultivation and finding any information about them is > almost impossible. There are also many species of terrestrial orchids that > have been overlooked by growers. For instance, I happen to think that many > species of Bletia orchids are very beautiful and relatively easy to grow. I > want to put together a wiki page for Bletia similar to what Cameron McMaster > did for Disa species from South Africa. > > In response to your question on the scarcity of Mexican bulbs, I will > attempt to answer it with an analogy. If one were to gauge the scarcity of > dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) based on the number of times they have > been collected for herbaria, one would deduce that dandelions are very rare > indeed! But dandelions are not found in herbaria because a professional > botanist has no interest in collecting them. Similarly, it is incorrect to > deduce that Mexican bulbs are rare in the wild because there is so little > information about them or because they are not commonly cultivated. From my > experience in the field, they are very common...just vastly > underappreciated. For example, just last month I was driving in the > countryside and I saw hundreds of flowers of Bessera elegans and Tigridia > meleagris lining the edges of the highways. > > -Dennis > Toluca, Mexico where I grow bulbs and orchids outdoors in temperate alpine > conditions at 2,500 meters, USDA zone 10 > > > Dear Dennis. > You leave us with mouth wide open! This is the first time, > I think, this cross is mentioned. X Sprekanthus was grown years ago and it > was a gorgeous little thing. Do you think you know the Zeph. species > involved in the natural cross? > Have you found undescribed species of Zeph. (and others, > incidentally) in your part of Mexico? > It was also a surprise to learn that Mexican bulbs are not > scarce in the wild. A group of us are working hard to try to propagate the > material in cultivation by careful seed sowing but perhaps we are doing a > useless work in sevral cases. Which are those that you have found rare or > scarce, if any? > > Best regards > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >