Erythronium 2010

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Aaron, great pix.... I suppose you know  you are making an old Bulb Despot very happy?!

Not only an old BD Maggi - some other folks also appreciate this....
 

[Ed Alverson]

Thanks Aaron - now we have photos from all three centers of Erythronium diversity represented, eastern North America, western North America, and Eurasia.

I was out earlier today and photographed Erythronium oregonum growing wild in a local pioneer cemetery.  Here is a photo; the flowers aren't their best because of all the rain we have had recently, but you can get the idea.  I've posted a few more photos of this site in the "cemetery" thread.

Ed

[Lesley Cox]

We have a "Cemetary" thread? Is it for dead plants or dead people? Don't you know that old gardeners never die, they just lie down and gently turn to compost.

[Maggi Young]

We have a "Cemetary" thread? Is it for dead plants or dead people? Don't you know that old gardeners never die, they just lie down and gently turn to compost.

It is for the plants, Lesley.  Never let it be said that we leave any plant locations unexplored in this forum!
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5069.0

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Erythronium tuolumnense is doing great this year..  ... I hope rain, wind and hail don't damage it.. 

[Rodger Whitlock]

Erythronium tuolumnense is doing great this year..  ... I hope rain, wind and hail don't damage it.. 

I hope everyone is aware that the "usual" form of E. tuolumnense has considerably smaller flowers than the general run of other Pacific coast erythroniums. In this detail, it is something of a disappointment. However, there are other strains about that have larger flowers commensurate with its compeers'. Worth looking for.

[Rodger Whitlock]

Thanks Aaron - now we have photos from all three centers of Erythronium diversity represented, eastern North America, western North America, and Eurasia.

But we are still missing the American midwest and that great rarity among erythroniums, a native of Minnesota, E. propullans.

It is an endangered species and hence effectively impossible to acquire, but also happens to be the smallest of the erythroniums and hardly worthy of garden room. One now-deceased collector of rarities here had it in her garden, and though she crowed over it, the most polite response I could muster was a discreet silence.

I got in trouble using the word "squinny" to describe Eranthis pinnatifida in the Eranthis thread, but I'll stick my neck out once again and say that, as I saw it, E. propullans is also squinny.

Wikipedia has a modest article on this plant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythronium_propullans

[Janis Ruksans]

The earliest of E. dens-canis is the form collected near vil. Lipcha , Eastern Carpathians, W. Ukraine. Allways blooms wel in advance of other dens-canis
Nice selection of E. sibiricum LALAC WONDER
Janis

[Lesley Cox]

Thank you MAggi. It was on my radar originally but like many others, had vanished. Even all the iris and Galanthus threads haven't shown up for months. I'll have to go right through the whole index and renotify.

[Afloden]

And two more... Another E. umbilicatum with white anthers/pollen and the lovely E. mesochoreum. I do not grow E. americanum or E. albidum in the garden.

 

[Hristo]

E. mesochoreum is a stunner Aaron! Increase by seed?

[Afloden]

Yes, only by seed for most forms of it. I do have one that offsets with some frequency though.

 Aaron

[Ed Alverson]

But we are still missing the American midwest and that great rarity among erythroniums, a native of Minnesota, E. propullans.

Rodger, I do have some photos of E. propullans, taken in the wild some 10 years ago.  Not only is it a native of Minnesota, it is the only vascular plant that is endemic to Minnesota, so the Minnesotans are very proud of it.  And it is a fitting flower for these modest midwesterners, given that it has the smallest flowers of any Erythronium, anywhere in the world!  It grows in a restricted portion of what is called the "Big Woods", which are dominated by sugar maple and basswood.  These forests have the typical understory of abundant spring ephemerals found in mesic forests in temperate portions of eastern and midwestern North America.  Interestingly, at this site, Erythronium propullans grows with the more common and widespread Erythronium americanum, from which E. propullans is said to have recently evolved.

Count the number of tepals on the flowers of E. propullans - some flowers have only 4 or 5, instead of the "normal" 6 tepals of Erythronium.

Ed

[Hristo]

Cheers for the pics of E.propullans Ed, the flowers may be small but the contrast in the foliage is very attractive indeed.
Is this species under pressure from forestry / human activity or is its habitat safe?
Cheers
Chris

[Hristo]

Three dens-canis cultivars in the garden, two identified, the third needs a name, I'm hoping the distinct pinkish dusting may bring forth an ID....Help!!!
1) Erythronium dens-canis 'Pink Perfection'
2) Erythronium dens-canis 'Snowflake''
3) Erythronium dens-canis - Unknown Cultivar