Pink Muscari,Convallaria and yellow Ruscus etc.
brown.mark (Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:57:37 PST)
I have some wonderful illustations of reddish muscari and other
improbables.Why should we doubt that they existed.I have just been told of a
true double leucojum in the Allen herbarium.Apparently all modern forms are
as yet semi-doubles.This specimen definately had petaloid stamens and not
just extra segments,delightful and different these new plants are
nonetheless they can't truely be called doubles.And as for dark pink
convallaria why not too?As I have said there are yellow-tipped forms still
around just.Or were until a few years ago.
Does anyone grow the yellow berried Ruscus aculeatus?This is a fabled plant
in Europe but is said to be grown in The States.I have collected seed of
various forms in Turkey,usually with the narrow leaves.I grow several
forms:///the/ hermaphrodite form and two narrow leaved forms ,one is very narrow
and fine.I forget their names sorry.I also grow after much searching and now
well established,the white fruited form of Iris foetidissima.I think it is a
great treasure.It seeds true if anyone wants some seed ,I may have some
still hanging on.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jane McGary" <janemcgary@earthlink.net>
To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 5:48 PM
Subject: Re: [pbs] Convallaria
Mark wrote:
I know and grow the rather disappointing Convallaria majalis 'Rosea',I
have seen it looking better in some gardens but is not a first class
plant.I was refering to the illustrations in the various hortus and
herbals of byegone times when speaking of really pink forms.Some were
called red!
We need to take old color descriptions with caution. Translating color
terms is difficult, and it's even harder to know just what, say, a German
herbalist writing in the regional Latin of the 18th century meant by
"rubra."
For that matter, there is a whole range of languages that make no
distinction between what we English speakers call "blue" and "green," and
the red-to-yellow color range is also problematic cross-linguistically.
This subject forms a small but entertaining side area in semantics.
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA
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