Anemone 2009

[BULBISSIME]

all this variations are simply stunning !

[annew]

I look forward to 'Explosion' appearing on Janis' list!

[Gerry Webster]

When the French version of Disneyland opened it was described by some people as a "cultural Chernobyl" - not a compliment. Anemone nemorosa 'Explosion' strikes me as an horticultural Chernobyl.

[gote]

Gote, this is what 'Blue Eyes' should be like. It opens as an ordinary double white and then the blue gradually appears as the flower gets older. Also 'Bracteata Plena' (New Zealand form as I received it). I can send you some if you like.

That is very kind of you Annie - later perhaps. I have still to see what 'Blue Eyes' does this year. My Bracteata plena/monstrosa may look like this occasionally - on other occasions they look very differently. I think that there is a high degree of instability there but I have no idea why?
Göte

 

[Rodger Whitlock]

My Bracteata plena/monstrosa may look like this occasionally - on other occasions they look very differently. I think that there is a high degree of instability there but I have no idea why?

The instability of some Anemone nemorosa cultivars illustrates that genetics is not a matter of simple Mendelian recessive-dominant genes. The famous Nobel laureate, Barbara McClintock, asked why some strains of corn (maize, Zea mays), bore cobs with kernels of different colors. Exploration of this question has over the last 50 years or so led to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which gene expression is regulated. Moreover, it has been recognized that heredity is not entirely a matter of the genes in chromosomes in cell nuclei. And lately I see articles referring to "epigenetic" factors being involved in controlling gene expression.

I don't have a sense of how thoroughly these issues have been worked out, whether the biologists have resolved most of the complexities or whether, on  the other hand, they have found more and more complexity that remains imperfectly understood.

[Lesley Cox]

Also 'Bracteata Plena' (New Zealand form as I received it). I can send you some if you like.

I never heard of a New Zealand Form.

[Gerry Webster]

My Bracteata plena/monstrosa may look like this occasionally - on other occasions they look very differently. I think that there is a high degree of instability there but I have no idea why?

The instability of some Anemone nemorosa cultivars illustrates that genetics is not a matter of simple Mendelian recessive-dominant genes. The famous Nobel laureate, Barbara McClintock, asked why some strains of corn (maize, Zea mays), bore cobs with kernels of different colors. Exploration of this question has over the last 50 years or so led to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which gene expression is regulated. Moreover, it has been recognized that heredity is not entirely a matter of the genes in chromosomes in cell nuclei. And lately I see articles referring to "epigenetic" factors being involved in controlling gene expression.

I don't have a sense of how thoroughly these issues have been worked out, whether the biologists have resolved most of the complexities or whether, on  the other hand, they have found more and more complexity that remains imperfectly understood.

Rodger - the concept of epigenetics was devised by the British biologist C.H. Waddington (Organisers & Genes, 1940) in response to discoveries in genetics & developmental biology. Essentially it is an 'organismic' rather than a 'reductionist' view of heredity & development. His views never became mainstream & were further eclipsed with the advent of molecular biology with its rather simplistic view of living organisms. However, Waddington always had a small group of disciples & in recent years his views have been revived & extended. You might find it interesting to look at How The Leopard Changed Its Spots by Brian Goodwin (1994) a relatively accessible account.

[gote]

Perhaps I should post a picture to show what I mean.
ALL flowers in the picture are of the same plant meaning that they all started as the same rhizome that has now ramified. The frequency of the different forms varies from year to year.
That we get different colours on Corn seed is a different issue. The kernels are not entirely the same plants. They are the result of sexual reproduction so there is a genetic variation.
 Göte

[Gerry Webster]

Barbara McClintock's work on maize was not concerned with variation due to sexual reproduction but, as Rodger indicates, with variation due to the differential regulation of gene expression, a phenomenon which she effectively discovered.

[gote]

Barbara McClintock's work on maize was not concerned with variation due to sexual reproduction but, as Rodger indicates, with variation due to the differential regulation of gene expression, a phenomenon which she effectively discovered.

This kind of variation seems to me to be the only reasonable explanation for the variations in the nemorosas - unless it is some kind of virus.
One observation may be that the variable ones seem to be deficient in sexual reproduction. On the other hand virescens 'Vestal' and "alba plena" do not vary.
Göte

[annew]

Gote, my 'Bracteata Plena' does much the same thing.

[gote]

Gote, my 'Bracteata Plena' does much the same thing.

Thank you Annie
That is comforting Because then it cannot be my fault
It is still strange. I cannot think of any other genus that does this.
Göte

[Janis Ruksans]

Three of double Anemone ranunculoides cv. and another yellow from Siberia - jeniseejensis
Janis

Dago.JPG
 Hiumaa.JPG
 Orjaku.JPG
 jeniseejensis.JPG

[Janis Ruksans]

A. nemorosa GREEN STRANGER is of same variability. Both pictures from same pot.
Janis

[Paul T]

Janis,

So what exactly is the difference between it and bracteata plena?  Looks the same to me, at least from those pics?

That first double yellow you posted is just such a perfect double, isn't it?  Perfect layers, with good solid petals.  Very, very nice.