Muscari ... and some relatives 2009

[Tony Willis]

Simon I cannot help but it is a very nice plant.

I now have another lot of muscari in flower,apart from two all sp. which saves a lot of typing.This group apart from the first two which are from Turkey are from seed collected in Greece
The first sp from Mt Falackro is minute the flower head is less than 1 inch.

Muscari caucasicum
Muscari aucheri
Muscari sp.

[Tony Willis]

Some from Turkey

[Sinchets]

What a fascinating range of colours and growth forms, Tony. The literature used for identification really does not do justice to how variable Muscari species can be from location to location, and even within one location.

[Afloden]

Oron,
 In Kansas temperatures frequently hit -5F with hot summers, 95-105F, even worse than eastern Tennessee. The past two winters the lowest temperature reached has been 7F with 12 days where it never made it above freezing. The summers get hot during the day (ca. 95F), but the diurnal range can be 30F. Morning temps can make it to around 55F, but are often ca. 65-70F. I was really surprised by this, but being situated between the Cumberland Mountains and the Appalachian's does make a difference. My soil is laterite red clay with a decent sandy humus layer.

Maggi,
 Sorry I don't grow Alrawia. I wish I did. I am always searching out more and more Muscari and Bellevalia, let along so many other plants.

Tony,
 Did you supply Arum seed to the AEG list? Some of the place names are similar. If so, thanks I have many from the seed a few years ago.

 Aaron

[Tony Willis]

Aaron

yes I did send seed to the AEG list,I think it would be about four years ago. They do well with me and I get lots of spare tubers as well as seed. I also swapped a lot of spare arums with people who grow arisaema's which do not do very well with me.

[Oron Peri]

Today I found this Muscari. I had Muscari auchadra in the past, but it was assumed dead. I have also had M.pallens from several sources. Can anyone help with an id?

Simon,
It is very difficult to say which species it is but  I would say an albino form of it. this white flower with green edges is almost always albino.

Does someone have information regarding M. auchadra, its origins habitat etc?

[Oron Peri]

Aaron, thanks for the information.

Tony... again, what a collection!!

[Tony Willis]

Oron there seems to be a photgraph of a white form of Muscari auchadra taken at Wisley on the web.

It origin is not visible on the label in the picture

Why  not ask Paul at Wisley if he can tell you something about it.

[Oron Peri]

Tony,

Thanks, just seen the photo, infact it seems to be the same form that Simon has shown earlier.

I will try to contact Paul as you have suggested.

[Sinchets]

Oron, I could not find out much information about M.auchadra online. One of the few pictures I could find was at http://home.tiscali.nl/hennessy/teeltweb/growing/picpage%20potgrowing.htm
the flowers in the pic also have green edges. I agree with you about albino forms often having the green edging to the flowers. It could be misidentified here (the pic is from RHS Wisley) and my plant may have come from the same source. All that I do know is that the only albino form of Muscari I grew in England was M.argaei album (which I read is pure white).
I have grown other Muscari from seed here and it is possible these may have generated albinos, but the plant pictured was planted out before the voles worked through the bulb bed. So it cannot have been mixed up with any later acquisitions I have bought since moving to Bulgaria. I also know it cannot be from seed sown in England, as I did not have space to grow Muscari from seed in England.
It would be interesting to know if anyone is groing the real M.auchadra, and what the plant should look like.

[Sinchets]

A selection of Muscari found on a walk yesterday in the Slivenska Mountains and the Blue Rocks area of Bulgaria.
Top- left to right
Muscari neglectum  'Lilac form'
Muscari neglectum album
Muscari neglectum 'normal form'
Bottom- left to right
Muscari neglectum 'lighter form'
Muscari vandasii (M.ramosum)
Muscari armenaicum

[Paul T]

Simon,

All nice!  I love that lilac form of neglectum.  Lovely delicate colour.

[Sinchets]

Yes Paul, it was the only one we saw like that- we saw 5 albinos, which is the most we have seen in one population before. It is peak flowering time for Muscari here just now- we were trying to work out the likelihood of finding something different among groups of several 1000 individuals- we had good luck I think. 

[Paul T]

Very, very cool.  Congrats on finding so many.

[Oron Peri]

Some great findings Simon...you can start giving them cultivar names ..
They bloom quite late in your area, in the E. Mediterranean they are way over now.