Pacific Bulb Society BX 334

Mary Sue Ittner msittner@mcn.org
Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:36:54 PDT

>9. Geissorhiza "falcata" (???)

Since the identity of this was suspect, whoever asked for it could 
check out Hesperantha falcata or Hesperantha cucullata if and when it 
blooms. Some of the white Geissorhizas and Hesperanthas look very 
much alike. From the wiki:
"Geissorhiza is quite similar to Hesperantha and superficially very 
difficult to tell apart although Geissorhiza blooms during the day 
and many Hesperantha species open late in the day. Most species of 
Geissorhiza have a style that divides above the anthers and in 
Hesperantha the style divides at the mouth of the tube."

In the past I ordered seed from seed exchanges of quite a few things 
that were labeled with a variety of names that all turned out to be 
Hesperantha cucullata even though none of them were labeled that way 
(Hesperantha falcata from 4 different sources, Hesperantha 
pauciflora, Hesperantha  buchnii  which I think was a misspelling of 
H. buhrii which is a synonym for Hesperantha cucullata.) They weren't 
all completely the same as some opened earlier in the day and others 
were darker red/brown on the back. I don't think I ever grew 
Hesperantha falcata which is a smaller plant than H. cucullata. The 
only one I still have is the one from Wayne Roderick (misspelled H. 
buchnii). It opens earlier in the day and resembles the ones we saw 
in Nieuwoudtville. It has been blooming lately planted in the ground. 
If you look at the photos on the wiki of both H. falcata and H. 
cucullata you will understand why they can be misnamed and are 
difficult to tell apart. They have different corms however.
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

Mary Sue




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