South African Bulbs 2014

[johnstephen29]

Hi steve I have bought some seeds off scampton succulents, massonia depressa, six seeds via ebay. Arrived pretty quickly, just got to get them to germinate now.

[SJW]

Hi steve I have bought some seeds off scampton succulents, massonia depressa, six seeds via ebay. Arrived pretty quickly, just got to get them to germinate now.

Hi John - also has his own website if you want to give ebay a swerve and pay by cheque (I'm so 20th C!). http://scamptonsucculents.mybisi.com/. I've bought Lachenalia seed from him in the past and they arrived ok. Last time I emailed with an enquiry though I didn't get a reply which put me off a bit, although to be fair it may have just been an oversight.

[johnstephen29]

Hi steve I've taken a look at the website, it's not bad.

[Peter Maguire]

Hi John,
I've had seed from Scampton succulents in the past twelve months (bought via ebay) and had good germination from what I've received from them this time last year.
However I now know that this isn't the best time to be sowing SA bulb seed here as they go dormant after a very short growing season, which probably doesn't allow a decent sized young bulb to develop, so I'm not sure how much is coming back up for a second season. This previously happened to me with some AGS seedex Massonia seed which I put down to poor cultivation on my part, but may not have been. Following Darren Sleep's advice I kept all my SA bulb seed from the seed exchanges last year at room temperature until August, then sowed it - fantastic germination in September and things have been growing well since.
It might be useful to keep it on one side for now and sow it in the summer.

[johnstephen29]

Hi peter thanks for the advice, I'll do that.

[YT]

Today's Lachenalia viridiflora

[Maggi Young]

Today's Lachenalia viridiflora

Oh, WOW!  That is a perfect potfull - I don't think we've seen better.

[YT]

Thank you, Maggi It's very easy to grow here. Leaving the pot on a sunny bench without any protection and a bit of fertilizer and wartering

[krisderaeymaeker]

Thank you, Maggi It's very easy to grow here. Leaving the pot on a sunny bench without any protection and a bit of fertilizer and wartering

Now you are maybe a bit to modest Tatsuo  The hand of the master reflects in this fine example .

[johnralphcarpenter]

Some initial confusion over the identity of these two, now identified as Massonia hirsuta, somewhat grazed by molluscs, and Massonia tenella,

[SJW]

Some initial confusion over the identity of these two, now identified as Massonia hirsuta, somewhat grazed by molluscs, and Massonia tenella,

Hmmm...Massonia tenella is one I've not come across before. Is this an example of the splitters at work? Looks a bit like a form of M. echinata (or jasminiflora?) with slightly pustulate leaves...

[johnralphcarpenter]

Massonia tenella is an accepted name: Hyacinthaceae Massonia tenella Sol. ex Baker J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 11: 389. 1870 [1871 publ. 1870].

I bought it from Paul Cumbleton who described it  thus:"Massonia jasminiflora is still relatively uncommon in cultivation though widespread in the wild. It's wide distribution in South Africa means it occurs in various forms. The one offered is a quite recent discovery that has small pustules and fine hairs on the leaf and - most unusually - bulb tunics that are a deep beetroot purple in colour. This species makes naturally quite small bulbs - this bulb is 4 years old and has already flowered once".

He subsequently emailed me: "A little while ago you bought from me on eBay the Massonia jasminiflora from Nieuwouldtville. It turns out that when Gordon Summerfield (who I got the original seed from) first discovered this he incorrectly identified it. It turns out that this plant is actually Massonia tenella. So you may wish to re-write the label. Sorry about this – though the good news is that M. tenella has rarely been seen in cultivation before so we have a new species in our collections!"

So that's all good.

[SJW]

Massonia tenella is an accepted name: Hyacinthaceae Massonia tenella Sol. ex Baker J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 11: 389. 1870 [1871 publ. 1870].

I bought it from Paul Cumbleton who described it  thus:"Massonia jasminiflora is still relatively uncommon in cultivation though widespread in the wild. It's wide distribution in South Africa means it occurs in various forms. The one offered is a quite recent discovery that has small pustules and fine hairs on the leaf and - most unusually - bulb tunics that are a deep beetroot purple in colour. This species makes naturally quite small bulbs - this bulb is 4 years old and has already flowered once".

He subsequently emailed me: "A little while ago you bought from me on eBay the Massonia jasminiflora from Nieuwouldtville. It turns out that when Gordon Summerfield (who I got the original seed from) first discovered this he incorrectly identified it. It turns out that this plant is actually Massonia tenella. So you may wish to re-write the label. Sorry about this – though the good news is that M. tenella has rarely been seen in cultivation before so we have a new species in our collections!"

So that's all good.

Thanks for the additional information, you learn something new everyday on this forum! So that's another species to look out for. 

[Paul Cumbleton]

Thanks Ralph for posting the info I sent you which clears up the identity of this plant. I had actually wondered for a while if this was really a form of jasminiflora as the flowers are quite different in structure. I owe thanks to a German friend for providing the correct identification.

I have a good stock of Massonia tenella as the seed I originally bought germinated extremely well. So for anyone wanting one, I shall offer plants on eBay next summer.

Paul

[mark smyth]

Lapierousa oreogena (Silverhill seed), blooming now,

How easy or difficult is this bulb? Does it need frost free conditions?