Moraea polyanthos
Christiaan van Schalkwyk (Sat, 16 May 2009 02:06:38 PDT)
Hi Jim, et al
I do not grow any Moraea's, but wondered whether the act of pollination does
not start the withering and dying of the bloom. This is seen in many
succulents, especially Mesembs. In the genus Lithops flowers can last up to
three weeks, if not pollinated, but are dead the next day after pollination.
The rationale behind it is that one does not have to expend any energy on a
job completed, and thus the flower does not need to kept going after it has
been pollinated. Maybe you can try to keep a flower unpollinated (maybe by
removing the stamen ?) and see whether the flower will last longer.
This would probably not make you more or less fonder of the plant, but could
be quite a nice and interresting experiment !
Christiaan
----- Original Message -----
From: <robertwerra@pacific.net>
To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Cc: "Robert J Werra" <robertwerra@pacific.net>
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 9:21 PM
Subject: [pbs] Moraea polyanthos
Jim, welcome to "fugacious"=transient, ephemeral, evanescent, fleeting,
passing, shortlived, transitory, etc. Moraea polyanthos is among a good
share of moraeas that are fugacious. Blossom lasts from a few hours to one
day+. For some, if you miss lunch or dinner all you see is a withered
blossom. However, They have survived for centuries by putting on repeat
performances for weeks to months to attract their pollinators. M.
polyanthos blooms toward the end of the winter growing moraea season.
With maturity it will produce a number of medium sized light blue
?fragrant? blossoms during late afternoon to evening and will repeat
every few days for several weeks. On my personal 5 star ratings I give it
3 stars. It seems to be self pollinating with many seeds and seems to
produce underground cormlets as well. You decide if it is worth it.
Regards, Bob
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