Biarum

[Lesley Cox]

Mmmm very odd.

[BULBISSIME]

Biarum bovei ssp bovei is flowering now

[DaveM]

Been sorting through some images for a talk and came across this Biarum from the Zagros Mountains in Iran. April or May flowering. Any ideas of species would be most appreciated - It doesn't seem to be any of the species depicted in Peter Sheasby's Iran/Turkey book.

[Tony Willis]

The only one I can find in Iran is BB. bovei and that is hysteranous and so it cannot be that. I think it is most likely an eminium.

[Oron Peri]

Dave, Tony

It is B. straussii,
It is the only Biarum species that has the flower in the middle of the leaves, and it grows in Iran and Iraq.

[DaveM]

Many thanks Oron for this ID, much appreciated.

[Tony Willis]

Oron  you are of course correct,I had missed it when reading the monograph. Thanks for the correction.

[Darren]

Tony,
I can't find reference to Biarum ohridense in the monograph (maybe I'm missing it). Do you have any info on it? Nearest relatives or synonyms perhaps?  It is a lovely plant and of course I've seen your plants in real life at our group meetings in the past. I have a small offset from one of your plants but it has not flowered yet.

Darren.

[Pascal B]

Tony,
I can't find reference to Biarum ohridense in the monograph (maybe I'm missing it). Do you have any info on it? Nearest relatives or synonyms perhaps?  It is a lovely plant and of course I've seen your plants in real life at our group meetings in the past. I have a small offset from one of your plants but it has not flowered yet.

Darren.

Biarum ohridense is not a described species as far as I can find and to me the plant looks more like a form of the variable B. tenuifolium.

[Tony Willis]

Darren

I too have been unable to find any reference to it in the monograph.

My plants came from Monocot Nursery many years ago under the number MT4629 which I think is a Mathew Tomlinson collection. I see it is also sold under the name B. ohridense by Christian. I think as this name has been around for a number of years this is an omission from the monograph.

Whilst it may be a form of B. tenuifolium I find it very different in the way it flowers in that in most tenuifolium the spathe is upright until it withers when it shrivels or folds back but in ohridense it folds over forwards closing of the tube whilst still fully  in flower.
Looking at a group of biarum in the subgenus biarum in flower it stands out as being clearly distinct

[Pascal B]

Tony,

IPNI does not mention Biarum ohridense and usually it is very upto date but certainly would include any new species upto 2009. Therefore I do not think it is a validly published name. The monography by Peter Boyce is from 2008 so would definitely have included it if it was a true species, very few Araceae taxonimists are more thorough in their approach than Peter.

Tenuifolium is a widespread and subsequently variable species (look at the number of varieties described for this species) but it is always very important to have pictures of the true flowers contained inside the spathe tube in order to identify Araceae as things like the shape & arrangement of the male flowers, female flowers and neuters often are the most reliable characters to distinguish species on. Spathes in Araceae usually vary the most of any flowerpart and are the least reliable characters to use in discerning between closely related species unless the shape is truly unique. Also be aware that what is most often encountered in cultivation of a species does not necessarily mean is typical for a species. Your plant is attractive though.

[Tony Willis]

Pascal

I was not trying to indicate it was a different or new species only that the name had been around a lot longer than the monograph.I would also add that I have had the opportunity to observe many species of both arum and biarum in the wild and the variations seem endless.I have also distributed many specimens to a number of 'experts' and have had multiple identifications.

Last year we had a brief discussion on identifying biarums using the true flowers as indicated in the monograph key. I put up a picture of a spathe cut open to display the flowers of two species of known origin and in my opinion this proved the key to be quite inconclusive as neither of the specimens fitted.

[Pascal B]

Last year we had a brief discussion on identifying biarums using the true flowers as indicated in the monograph key. I put up a picture of a spathe cut open to display the flowers of two species of known origin and in my opinion this proved the key to be quite inconclusive as neither of the specimens fitted.

Lol..., don't let Peter hear about that....
Do you have a link of that discussion?
Too bad the trade sometimes "invents" species which are hard to get rid of once they are on the market and create confusion.

[Darren]

Thank you Tony and Pascal for your replies to my question. I had noticed that Paul Christian also lists this and there are assorted hits on the name if googled (under various spellings!). Whatever the taxonomic status, as a gardener I agree that it is distinct due to the behaviour of the spathe, which makes it rather more attractive than most B. tenuifolium.

[Maggi Young]

Last year we had a brief discussion on identifying biarums using the true flowers as indicated in the monograph key. I put up a picture of a spathe cut open to display the flowers of two species of known origin and in my opinion this proved the key to be quite inconclusive as neither of the specimens fitted.

Do you have a link of that discussion?

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3776.msg100991#msg100991 which is reply 9 on page one of this thread.