Lycoris straminea, houdyshellii, and L. elsiae
Tony Avent (Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:30:03 PDT)

Lycoris folks:

Has anyone else noticed that there seems to be virtually no difference
between L. straminea, L. x houdyshellii, and L. elsiae. We have large plots
of many different clones of each and they are virtually identical in all
characteristics. In the key, L. x houdyshellii differs from L. straminea in
having a red style tip. In a large population, we don't find this
characteristic to consistently hold. Our L. straminea came from both Jim
Waddick and from some of Sam Caldwell's collection. Our L. x houdyshelli is
from Waddick and from Chen Yi as L. shaanxiensis, and our L. elsiae is from
heirloom Texas plants. In Mark Roh's, Identification and Classification of
the Genus Lycoris Using Molecular Markers, these three all clustered
together, with L. straminea and L. x houdyshellii being particularly close.
I'd love to hear thoughts from anyone who has grown these.

Tony Avent
Plant Delights Nursery @
Juniper Level Botanic Garden
9241 Sauls Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA
Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F
Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F
USDA Hardiness Zone 7b
email tony@plantdelights.com
website http://www.plantdelights.com/
phone 919 772-4794
fax 919 772-4752
"I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three
times" - Avent