Iris and Roscoea wiki updates
Antennaria@aol.com (Thu, 08 Jun 2006 15:06:48 PDT)

Hello folks,

I updated the PBS wiki pages with the following additions:

1. Replaced old (poor) photo of Iris henryi with two new ones taken this
year.
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

2. Added a new photo taken today in the rain, of Iris gracilipes var. alba
"Buko Form", perhaps one of the choicest Iris of all.
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

3. Added 4 photos plus commentary on Roscoea cautleoides.
My plants are light yellow and notoriously difficult to get good color
rendition in a digital photo... the color always look white or washed out. I took a
couple additional photos today in the pouring rain.
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

Regarding Roscoea, I'm curious as to why I frequently see the species name
spelled "cautleyoides", and wonder if it did have an alternate spelling at one
point, or is it just a spelling corruption.

Checking out the online Flora of China at...
http://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx/…
satisfies my curiousity whether this species is mixed up in cultivation or
really as variable in the wild as cultivated plants might indicate. Certainly
some nursery websites show a range of forms and flowering times that make one
wonder if it's all one species.
http://plantsforshade.co.uk/acatalog/Roscoea.html/

Sure enough, in the Flora of China, it's reported as growing 6-24" (15-60 cm)
tall, flowering before or with the foliage, flowering anytime between May -
August depending on the colony, with flowers that can be yellow, purple,
white, or less commonly pink.

Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States
antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5
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alliums, bulbs, penstemons, hardy hibiscus, western
american alpines, iris, plants of all types!