I emasculate all the zephyranthes so only the style remains. For drummondii and labufa this is the trickiest because of how far down it is. I find that if you break the perianth carefully, as one would an asparagus spear, it tends to break right above or at the level of the stigma. You have to be gentle so as not to break the style. This is if the flowers are still closed.
If the flower is open, I bend the stem over so the flower is upside down, and slowly rip back each sepal. They tend to break right at the base of where they separate, and bring each pistil with them. When there are two left, I pull them in opposite directions and they tear apart the perianth tube until the stigma is exposed.
The reason I turn it upside down is that any jostling of drummondii, labufa, or chlorosolen causes the pollen to drop down and self pollinate the flower. When you do this correctly, flowers will not self pollinate and you'll know right away if you have cross pollination.
On Wednesday, August 26, 2015 3:00 PM, Ina Crossley <klazina1@gmail.com> wrote:
Z. drummondii can be crossed. It needs to have the flower emasculated
when it is still in bud. So all you have left is the stigma.
Ina Crossley
On 24/08/2015 8:28 p.m., Brian Whyer wrote:
If I remember rightly, the Z. drummondii have the female part is way
down ib the flower and you would probably need a qtip to assist in
getting pollen to it. Patty
> Yes it has a long thin tube. No qtip we have would get down it. Designed for long tongues. Easier to cut it away and wrap in clingfilm etc. A much larger flower form is available online. Maybe that has a larger diameter tube.
>
> Brian
>
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