The authors of 'The Ethnoflora of the Soqotra Archipelago' (A. Miller, M. Morris: RBG Edinburgh 2004) make the interesting observation that 'if conditions remain humid, the leaves persist, increasing in size, until well into the following year (January to February).' At Christmas 1999 they were certainly quite large, definitely earning the epithet grandifolia. It may well be that Harry Jans was lucky enough to be on Socotra after a year or two of good growing conditions when the plants had built up sufficient reserves to be able to flower well. The same work notes a photographic record of Ledebouria aff. revoluta on Socotra made by one Dylan Hannon in 2001: has this ever been confirmed, Dylan? John Grimshaw -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Hannon Sent: 15 December 2013 18:23 To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: Re: [pbs] Ledebouria grandifolia The flowers appear Ledebouria-like to me, albeit more showy than usual. An internet search shows very well an isotype of H. grandifolius, with the broad leaf blades abruptly narrowed to a slender petiole, closely resembling some eriospermums. Haemanthus leaves are broad and truncate at the base (leaf pairs forming a 'seam') although Balfour was likely referring to what we now call Scadoxus, which have leaf blades attenuated at the base. Harry Jans's lovely photo taken in Oct/Nov would be at the beginning of the (main) winter rainy season, with leaves just emerging. Flowers may also appear, perhaps more typically, before the leaves (like Haemanthus). Therefore it is not surprising that the type gathering was sterile (no flowers or fruits) and it was thought to be a Haemanthus rather than a squill. By all accounts L. grandifolia is a difficult plant to maintain in cultivation. Bulbs collected by John Lavranos on the 1967 inter-disciplinary expedition to Socotra reportedly withered away over a period of years. My own experience is that it will remain dormant for 2-4 years at a time, even with coaxing by autumn watering, producing a leaf or two when it is in the mood and not otherwise. Dylan Hannon On 15 December 2013 09:59, Tim Harvey <zigur@hotmail.com> wrote: > Those plants have rather un-Ledebouria-like flowers, to me. Does > anyone have a copy of the protologue for L. grandifolia? I wonder how > they linked a sterile type specimen to living material? > > > > T > > > > I saw Ledebouria grandifolia on Socotra in December 1999, but it > > wasn't > in > > flower: the pictures shown on Harry Jan's website > > http://jansalpines.com/gallery/main.php/… of it > flowering > > are therefore of great interest. When I saw it the leaves were > > expanded > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > -- *"If this is all we can do, maybe we had better do it-- and see if there is anything beyond this by doing it."* -- John Lilly ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com/ Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3658/6921 - Release Date: 12/14/13