Ixiolirion tataricum - how hardy and long-lived is it?
Antennaria@aol.com (Sun, 04 Jun 2006 21:29:04 PDT)

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net wrote:
"As for its distribution and hardiness potential, this is difficult to
deduce in the case of Central Asian bulbs. Those from the lower valleys may
be rather tender, and those from higher elevations may require a strict,
rather dry winter dormancy, just as plants from, say, the Rocky Mountains
do. Do we know the elevational range of Ixiolirion?"

For Ixiolirion tataricum, the elevational range is not noted, but for another
species, I. songaricum, it's listed as 400 m - 1600 m. The geographical
range of I. tataricum suggests hardiness in spite of elevational range, depending
on the source of the plant.

From the eFlora of China:
==================
1a.
Ixiolirion tataricum var. tataricum

Perianth azure to dark violet, segments 1--7 mm wide, not connivent
proximally into a pseudotube. Fl. Apr--Jun.

Valleys, sandy places, waste grasslands. N Xinjiang [Afghanistan, Kazakhstan,
Pakistan, Russia, Turkmenistan].

1b.
Ixiolirion tataricum var. ixiolirioides (Regel) X. H. Qian, Bull. Bot. Res.,
Harbin. 4(2): 158. 1984.

Kolpakowskia ixiolirioides Regel, Trudy Imp. S.-Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 5:
635. 1878; Ixiolirion ixiolirioides (Regel) Dandy; I. kolpakowskianum Regel.

Perianth light blue, segments 1--3 mm wide, laxly connivent proximally into a
ca. 1 cm long pseudotube. Fl. Apr--May.

Stony slopes. N Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan].

Rudolf Kamelin (pers. comm.) notes that this taxon differs from var.
tataricum in other characters and would be better recognized at the rank of species.

===================

Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States
antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5
==============================================

alliums, bulbs, penstemons, hardy hibiscus, western
american alpines, iris, plants of all types!