Early results of crossing Amaryllis and B. marginata
Michael Mace (Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:48:54 PDT)

I did some experiments this fall on crossing Brunsvigia marginata with other
amaryllids. Here's what I found:

--Pollination of B. marginata with Nerine sarniensis pollen produced no
seeds. I tried several crosses, and all failed completely.

--Self-pollination also failed completely. Other folks have reported that
the species is not self-fertile, so this is not a big surprise.

--Pollination of B. marginata with pollen from various Amaryllis hybrids
from Les Hannibal was successful in every case. I'm getting 2-10 seeds per
floret. The seeds generally range in size from a pea down to a quarter of a
pea, and are green with maroon speckling. The seeds turn solid maroon/brown
within a couple of days when they are planted out on the surface of the
soil.

A minority of the seeds in several capsules are smaller, and colored white
with maroon specks. I don't know if these are unhealthy seeds, or an
indication of a different sort of cross.

If anyone is interested in seeing a photo, let me know.

Any words of wisdom from the Amaryllid experts? Are "normal" B. marginata
seeds green with maroon speckles?

Thanks,

Mike

PS: I also made some crosses of B. marginata pollen on Amaryllis. Still
waiting for those pods to mature. Some failed, and some appear to have
something growing in them...