Lycoris origins
James Waddick (Thu, 06 Aug 2009 07:53:37 PDT)

Dear Anita and all,
Another interesting topic.
I agree with Tony that it is fairly easy to guess parentage
of hybrids if you are familiar with parentage. Most first gen hybrids
seem to be intermediate.

L. squamigera sure looks like a 1st gen combo of sprengeri x
longituba, but , based on karyotype, this might be a tricky cross
only occurring rarely. L. squamigera is generally believed to be a
natural stable hybrid, but has been recorded from a few location in
E. China centering around Zheijiang Province. It has long been in
cultivation in China and brought to Japan centuries ago. Owing to its
beauty, vigor and ease of multiplication it has spread far and wide.
As a sterile plant it is essentially a clone. You just don't see
anything intermediate between squamigera and anything. It is a
hybridizing dead end.

L. chinensis and L. longituba have nearly identical
karyotypes and as you might expect there are numerous hybrid
intermediates as 1st gen seedlings are fertile and easily back cross
to either parent. You can readily ID plants that show a lot of one or
the other with a mix of characters in delightful ways. These are
hyridizers' dreams with many possibilities.

Japan has fewer native species, but most of these have nearly
identical karyotypes. The Japanese have developed a series of hybrids
mostly between L. sanguinea and the introduced L.sprengeri. These are
available from Dutch bulb dealers (in association with Japanese
suppliers?) under a variety of fanciful names.

China with more species and more karyotypical variation has
produced an array of natural stable hybrid species such as x
haywardii, X houdyshelii and others. There are a couple of Chinese
species which are little grown, but of suspect and probably hybrid
origin such as L. caldwelli, L. straminea and possibly L. incarnata.

With a pretty good color palette, size and form , the genus
has a lot of potential for lovely garden plants.

With a little attention to plant details, it is fairly easy
to guess relationships. Reality takes longer.

Best Jim W.
--
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph. 816-746-1949
Zone 5 Record low -23F
Summer 100F +