Hymenocallis / Ismene
Jim McKenney (Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:43:49 PDT)

Good point, John, but something funny is going on here.

I don't know the history of the van Tubergen company well; a quick Google
search turned up a citation which gives the founding date of the company as
1868.

Nicolson's Gardener's Dictionary, in which the name Hymenocallis amanacaes
was published, did not begin publication until 1884. Herbert, who raised
the first of the spofforthiae hybrids, died in 1847. Herbert knew the plant
as Ismene amancaes (and his usage is evidently not recognized for
nomenclatural purposes).

I suspect the 1830 date is the date for Ismene x spofforthiae, not for the
later re-do of the same cross by van Tubergen which produced 'Sulphur
Queen'.

The dates are not making sense.

Also, shouldn’t we be writing the name amancaës (to indicate a four syllable
word rather than a three syllable word).

Jim McKenney

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