PLEIONE 2011

[karel_t]

Hi Paul.
May I ask you how were the result of your unsuccessful attempts to cross P. maculata? They didn't develop seedpods or yes but with chaffs only?
K.

[ThomasB]

Pleione praecox 'Berggarten' (named after a botanical garden in Hannover) is flowering here. 

[LarsB]

Hi Paul,

No wonder i haven't succeeded with my few attempts to use maculata I'll keep a lookout for the two. I haven't been able to find a picture of P. Marmoset. Can you post one?

[ThomasB]

The RHS lists just a few Pleione crosses with Pln. maculata as a parent. There are:

Pln. x lagenaria (Confirmation) = Pln. praecox x Pln. maculata
Pln. Riah Shan = Pln. bulbocodioides x Pln. maculata
Pln. Gelada = Pln. grandiflora x Pln. maculata
Pln. Marmoset = Pln. Piton x Pln. maculata

Pln. x lagenaria was further used as a parent to cross

Lassen Peak = Pln. x lagenaria x Pln. praecox
and
Liz Shan = Pln. x lagenaria x Pln. maculata

The cross of Lassen Peak with Hekla is Pln. Wharfedale. I never read about further crosses with any influence of Pln. maculata.

[ThomasB]

Some thoughts about maculata crosses.
Maybe crosses with Pln. x lagenaria or Liz Shan could be more successful to produce some offspring with maculata blood in them? Pleione praecox seems to be way easier to grow than maculata and already produced a number of crosses. A hybrid with praecox genes in it might help to pass also some maculata genes to the offspring.

[karel_t]

You are right Thomas. I have in flasks and just after deflasking several my own crosses with P. x lagenaria and P. Confirmation as pollen parents. Unfortunately, P. x lagenaria as seed parent always was unsuccessful  .
K.

[Maren]

Hi,
I finally managed to have a chat with Ian Butterfield about his Pleione x lagenaria. Apparently, he has had his for 30 years, long before anyone attempted an artificial cross. He does not wish to divulge the source but goes as far as to say that it was given to him by a foreign botanical institution. He has since made the cross himself, which, of course, is called Confirmation. Apparently, the true P. x lagenaria is rather a poor grower. He does not sell them.

[Pascal B]

Hi Maren, thanx for asking. Good news to hear at least some genuine material is in cultivation. Too bad the material is not for sale because the material is important but the difference in growth might be an indication the artificial Jan Berg hybrid is not exactly the same. Exact source of course is not necessary but it would have been interesting to know if it is Thai, Chinese or Indian.

Your remark about the remake of the cross is strictly speaking not always true, the rules regarding this are rather complicated. If the cross is exactly the same (same parents, same pollen donor, same outcome) than yes, the remake name is the same as the original grexname. If the resulting offspring is different, something that can always happen, even with the exact same parent plants as the original hybrid(!), the remake usually is denoted as a group within the old grex name with the letters "Gp" in front of them. As P. x Confirmation is a primary hybrid between 2 species in all likeliness the offspring should be reasonably uniform but I just wanted to mention it is not self-evident a remake has the same grex name.

For instance, with the more complicated secondary hybrids the results are often far less uniform and thus the group names within the original grex name should be applied after a remake. And if the used grex is from a secondary hybrid and rather variable, the selected cultivars used in the hybrid also become important. Remake of "grex A x grex B" therefore does not always have the same name as the original hybrid. Different selections within the grex for parents could mean the remake gets a new grex name.... Headache stuff....

The RHS as registrating agency for Pleione hybrids will closely monitor all the new hybrids and filter out similar parentage and apply these rules but those interested in growing hybrids should be carefull if a hybrid is on the market that is not registered. Too often individuals hybridize whatever they can, sow them with the DIY sets, name them en sell them as something new without registering, it could be it is something already done.

[krisderaeymaeker]

Stil wait on my Pleione praecox to open his buds ...

[karel_t]

A few of my P. maculata are in flower.
K.

[Jan Methorst]

And here some  P. maculata from Cornwall

[Maggi Young]

All these pleione are looking good - thanks for sharing Folks!

[Jan Methorst]

Some more to cheer up these dark days
P. Wharfdale 'Pine Warbler' from Ian and P. Barcena from Maren

[Jan Methorst]

something went wrong, here is the 'Pine Warbler'

[JPB]

Now flowering. Three different clones of P. praecox