Zdeněk Zvolánek -Edraianthus Session

[Maggi Young]

Zdeněk Zvolánek -Edraianthus Session - an appreciation of these plants

 Friends, I have the pleasure to present to you here a collection of interesting observations and photographs, from Zdeněk Zvolánek  (ZZ) on some members of the Edraianthus clan.
These plants are of great use in alpine and rock garden plantings.... often a great success in trough and in the famous Crevice Gardens of ZZ.... many even enjoy life here in Aberdeen, 2 miles from the sea and at only a small distance
above sea level.
ZZ has prepared this "Session" and it wil be my pleasure to post it here  on his behalf.... then he can come in and complain that it is not to his liking and all the photos are upside down......  

please click on the photos to enlarge them.....


 The first photo is of the author of this essay, ZZ  "the Stone Rider"

[Maggi Young]

EDRAIANTHUS   SESSION

 It  may be that this smaller genus is very blessed society in the Campanulaceae Family, surely designed better for our rock gardening than huge genus Campanula. They are more resistant to bad weather (too wet or too dry) and their foliage is not so juicy for slugs. They are botanically like Campanulas but capsule splitting irregularly at the apex; flowers are in terminal clusters or solitary, closely subtended by leaf-like bracts. Their superiority is in the fact, that all species of Edraianthus are found in calcareous, rocky habitats, mainly in the mountains.
 Three of them are false: Edraianthus owerinianus= Muehlbergella oweriniana (small narrow flowers and column-like stems), E. parnassicus = Halascyella parnassica and E. calamithifolius = Petkovia orphanidea (syn. Campanula orphanidea).
 This list of members of the lovely genus is not an article dealing with all species. It is my session so only invited nice individuals (species) are present.

[Maggi Young]

EDRAIANTHUS TENUIFOLIUS GROUP
Edraianthus dalmaticus (a karst meadow plant) and E. serbicus are not small enough (surely not true alpines). I grow E. tenuifolius, collected by Joyce Carruthers in Central Monte Negro. It is self-sowing pleasant perennial providing nice blue excitement to bumble bees and to us in late spring and early summer. Flowers with extra long bracts are 2 cm long and in clusters up to 15. Surely the most attractive (new because of DNA test) member of this group is E. wettsteinii from Sutorman and Rumija Mts. in southern Monte Negro. The species resembles E. pumilio but solitary (or 2-3) flowers are densely hirsute. Nice plant is seen in the gallery of Franz Hadacek in a noble Vienna trough. E. wettsteinii ssp. lovcenicus from Lovcen Mts. is not so compact and it is taller.

[Maggi Young]

EDRAIANTHUS PUMILIO GROUP
Only two species are here with glabrous solitary corollas and leaves with involute margins. Both species are restricted to the two small Dalmatic coast mountains: Edraianthus pumilio is endemic to Biokovo Mts. and slightly looser and ?grey-green (with smaller flowers) E. dinaricus is endemic to Mt. Mosor. I collected E. pumilio myself at Mt. Svaty Jura (Saint George) at elevation 1500 m. Small colony was in crevices (cooled properly in humid nights) and leaves had pewter or matt silver leaves. I have not seen E. dinaricus but I suspect that the old green and larger clones of E. pumilio in cultivation were actually E. dinaricus. Some misguided person from Moravia called and distributed (for years) this silver and compact E. pumilio under name E. owerianus.

[Maggi Young]

EDRAIANTHUS SERPYLLIFOLIUS GROUP
Here is the right place for all species with single flowers and spathulate basal leaves. Edraianthus serpyllifolius  is distinct with the indumentums of its basal leaves: they have glabrous upper surface with hairy margins. This species is from montane and subalpine zones and grows in quite large area: the main chain of Dinaric Alps (Bosnia, Monte Negro and Albania) and two near coast mountains Biokovo and Orjen. Orjen Mts. has precipitation 4000 mm and before I had the chance to reach the top, we got so strong lighting and rain, that my friend´s camera in his rucksack was drowned. So I do not know local population of Orjen Mts. and the same is with the beautiful clone from the top of Mt. Svaty Jura (Biokovo Mts). I was too weak to hike the summit there after being poisoned with combination of alcohols, wasp bite and diarrhoea. But I grow this Biokovo clone from seed collected by Gita Piatkova and Ian Young has it from Vojtech Holubec collection. Some flowers are 30 mm long! It reminded me of the time around 1973 when one nurseryman in Czechia had regular stock of a clone with relatively small flowers including an albino (white form). He grew it above miraculous layer of cow manure so this E. serpyllifolius had quick growth into bloom and super quick departure from garden.
Edraianthus pulevicii is true alpine from northern crevices of Durmitor Mts. in Monte Negro. Its basal leaves are relatively large and have its upper part covered with dense hairs in direction towards the base. Edraianthus pilosulus (syn. E. serpyllifolius ssp. pilosulus) is probably the most beautiful species from the genus because it has lovely tiny leaves in tight arrangement and large flowers. Upper blade of leaves is covered with hairs directing towards apex. It is endemic to alpine level (just above Pinus heldreichii) in Komovi Mts. in Monte Negro. I admired this plant flowering in crevices in northern walls of small outcrops and I must go there back to look for the seed. Somewhere under Mt. Kom Kucki two Czech explorers Jurasek and Holubec discovered lovely white form. Edraianthus sutjeskae was described from the canyon Sutjesky (between Maglic and Durmitor Mts). It is larger than the 3 above-mentioned species and its upper blades of the leaves are covered with tiny hairs. Edraianthus glisicii differs strongly: it has large solitary flowers but leaves are not spathulate (they are linear lanceolate). This striking species is endemic to small areas near river Tara in Monte Negro. I collected my seed in a saddle of Sinjaevina Mts. at elevation 1600 m, staying near our car because of the unlucky diarrhoea.

[Maggi Young]

EDRAIANTHUS GRAMINIFOLIUS GROUP
Edraianthus tarae is new rare and extremely distinct species with up to 6 cm long white flowers arranged in a cluster called distachia (flowers have 1-3 cm long peduncles and their capsules open at their sides like campanulas). This is saxatile endemic and rare plant of the Canyon of Tara River near Durmitor Mts. Edraianthus graminifolius is species extremely variable in habit, indumentums and lengths of bracts, colour and length of corolla, and number of flowers. Numerous ifraspecific taxa have been described; mostly dwarf variants from the alpine regions. I obtained information from botanical circles that Slavonic botanists (Serbians, Croatians and Slovenians etc.) are preparing some article about this species, which is now branched into 17 lines or clans. I am not sure if I have true E. graminifolius var. niveus (compact white flowering taxon from Vranica Mts.). I saw blue flowering dwarf alpine E. graminifolius var. graminifolius under Mt. Corno Grande (Central Appenines) and similar E. graminifolius var. australis in Greek-Macedonian Timphy Mts. I have seen spectacular alpine species at Mt. Korab (the highest peak of Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo) and in Komovi Mts. in Monte Negro. They have violet-blue flowers of good sizes, singular or in clusters 3-4 and short narrow leaves in decently low clumps. All love cool and wet conditions in crevices or stony ridges and their name is Edraianthus montenegrinus (or E. graminifolius var. montenegrinus). They were regularly killed in the crevices of my hot and dry slope with no artificial wattering. Joyce and me observed one summit above Mavrovo Lake in Macedonia with a population of E. graminifolius var. horvatii. It is pretty small variety with pale violet-blue flowers, single or up to three in cluster.
The winner of this group is Edraianthus vesovicii, which I admired at Mt. Karamfili Group of Prokletije Mts. near Albanian boundary. The best plant was seen in end of August in full flower in a northern cauldron in 2000 m. About 5 cm long dark violet flowers were in dense clusters forming large cushion. Later, with a blooming luck, I was able to find some seed at a higher ridge. Seed was sown with our plantsman Jaroslav Balaz from Czech-Moravian Highland. He gave me four strong plants (too well fertilised and in a humus soil). They beautifully bloomed last year in my sunny slope. One plant had single flowers and the rest had strong clusters. You can see the pictures of them with the fact that only one plant survived my hot and dry lowland condition. Mr. Balaz has no troubles with them but because they are so variable he does not believe, that I collected the seed in one remote Montenegrin ridge.




 

[Maggi Young]

 The author of this digital paper, called Stone Rider, has been rock gardening  for 40 years at the 'Beauty Slope' above village Karlik in the Czech Karst.  "The slope is stony steppe at elevation 220 m. Karlik has two spectacular rocks (peaks) forming an entrance into long narrow valley. The higher is brown sedimentary schist and the lover (ending my rented slope) is a basic volcanic rock called diabase. Our precipitation is about 400 mm and we have unstable (sometimes cruel) continental winters."

[maggiepie]

Oh Maggi, these are beautiful, I particularly like Edraianthus pumilio, can I change my seed order

:::running before you can whack me::::!!

[Lesley Cox]

So many thanks to ZZ and to Maggi for this lesson in Edraianthus, a genus which can be confusing sometimes, sorting the campanulas and wahlenbergias from Edraianthus. The pictures are stunning and the information priceless and much appreciated.

[David Nicholson]

What a beautiful picture essay. Congratulations to Zdenek for growing and writing about these special plants and to Maggi for making it available to us all.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I bow in silent admiration for so much knowledge on this wondeful genus Zdenek ! 
Thanks so much for sharing it and obviously a big thanks to your secretary as well !! 

By the way, the pictures are stunning !! 

[krisderaeymaeker]

I am agree with Luc,David,Lesley Helen ......
Many thanks to Zdenek and Maggi . I must read it many  times more and look more carefully at the pictures.
I am very interested in this genus and I hope/think this session can clear out many questions I had on the genus.I grow many of them (most on tufa) but can also start to dream of the new ones......
I have somewhere a good link to a study that's done on this subject.I must search for it .....   

[mark smyth]

I have a few of these lovely plants in my garden and would like to get more. Bees visit my flowers but I never get seeds

[Thomas Huber]

Many thanks Maggi and Zdenek. I've planted many seedlings of different Edraianthus this autumn
after I've had one plant two years ago and fell in love with it. The seeds were a gift from two
good friends. After reading your posts I can't wait until the start flowering 

[Darren]

Amazing and beautiful. I've grown only E pumilio, and then only until the slugs found it. Don't they have molluscs in mainland Europe??