Sandersonia / Littonia

[Michael]

I just discovered these two nice plants recently. Does anybody has spares of those species to trade?



Thanks
Mike

[Hans J]

Michael ,

I grow both of them and you are rigth they really nice !
You can have from me later seeds of Littonia - there are enough .
From Sandersonia I have only one clone .....there are no seeds ....

Cheers
Hans

[Michael]

Hi HAns, many thanks!
Are they still on time to go together with the other seeds?

Michael

[Hans J]

  Michael : the other seeds are underway 

[Rogan]

Michael,

Are you still seeking Sandersonia? I have many pods forming at the moment, it will still be awhile before they are ripe - germination can take up to 18 months though!

Hans,

I find Sandersonia happy to accept its own pollen (as does Littonia and Gloriosa).

[Hans J]

Rogan ,

thank you for this good news !
I will try it in next season....

[Paul T]

Hans,

I wonder whether the Sandersonia we have here in Aus was grown from seed or imported from overseas as the same clone as you have?  Does well for me here, although would do better with more water and feeding I think.  I have a couple of flowers on mine right now, looking very exotic as I always feel that they do.  They have the common name here (unsure whether it is the same elsewhere) or 'Golden Lily of the Valley'  , and they resemble LOTV about as much as I resemble a Haemanthus..... i.e not even vaguely. 

I have enough to spare you a rhizome at the next dormancy if you are wanting a piece in the hope it is a different clone?

[Hans J]

Paul ,

before some years this plant ( Sandersonia ) was often offered ....but now it is really rare .
My plant comes from African Bulbs ...I have tried it with sowing but no succsess ....

Yes - maybe if you have enough rhizomes so I would interestet -thanks !

[Michael]

Hi Rogan!

Yes i am still searching for this nice elegant plant.
Cant we force the seeds to germinate more faster? Like watering with gibberellic acid or something?...

[Paul T]

Mike,

I haven't offered to send you any because they'd need to be turned around from the southern hemisphere.  I know that Hans has experience with this, but figure that you may find it a bit more difficult.  If you can't find a source in the northern hemisphere for a rhizome, let me know.... if you want to give the "turning the seasons around" a go.

[Rogan]

"Cant we force the seeds to germinate more faster? Like watering with gibberellic acid or something?..."

I think I've tried everything there is to speed up germination: heat, cold, smoke, various acids, mechanical scarification (e.g. chipping), GA3, but to no avail. The seeds have elaiosomes that are attractive to ants - once an ant has found a seed it consumes the oil-rich elaiosome and then discards the seed - so what else do ants do to the seeds other than bury them in their nests?

Once upon a time a pot of fresh seed did germinate within a month or two of sowing to my great surprise. This pot was a control with no special treatment at all, the other was heat treated with boiling water - so, did I mix up the labels? I think not as I have tried this before without any success. I should have lots of seed available for experimentation this year - time to line up the toxic, corrosive, carcinogenic and volatile chemicals and experiment away...

[Ezeiza]

Hi Rogan:

             Sandersonia is known to germinate well if sown really fresh or to remain dormant for a long time if one let it dry off.


              What do ants do to trigger germination? They remove the elaiosomes.


Best regards
Alberto