.....une petite fleur : Acis fabrei

[Hans J]

Hans thanks for sharing. You must have been so happy seeing this lovely plant 
Good to keep it secret and safe.

Angie

Thank you Angie 

[ashley]

I hope you found some seeds

Thanks for showing us this very beautiful species Hans.

Since it is so rare and vulnerable then I hope it is well protected.

[David Nicholson]

Well found Hans, a beautiful little plant.

[Hans J]

Thank you Ashley  

My fear is if there any fires so are this small populations easy destroyed ....there is a really dry area with low bushes ( Garrique ) .....maybe this is the reason why this plants are so rare ?

Hans

[Hans J]

Thank you David 

[bulborum]

 Hello Gerd

I hope you can remember me after May
to buzzy now
I have to go in the books

Roland

[BULBISSIME]

Congratulations hans !
Even in France, very very few people know this plant and location... to keep secret

[Gerdk]

Congratulations Hans! The Acis is really 'rarissima'!

Gerd

so one more to go 100 km more west
there must be one other rare one
more rare as Acis fabrei
found only one time
and dried as specimen

Roland - is there a chance to get to know of which species you are talking about???

Hello Gerd
I hope you can remember me after May
to buzzy now
I have to go in the books
Roland

Gerd

Hi Roland,
The last contribution reminded me to ask my question again -
still very curious to know which plant was in your mind!

Gerd

[bulborum]

Gerd

I will have a look in the books this weekend

Roland

[Yann]

I'm reopening this thread just to inform the location Hans talked about has been devastated by fire 2 weeks ago.
The east part of the forest of J----n (to keep it secret  ) is now a black zone. The site near the forestry track is almost intact but the one located further is totaly burnt.

I'm curious to see how the bulbs have survived to the heat.

[Gerdk]

Yann,
If Acis/Leucojum responds to burning in the manner as Narcissus does there is some hope
that the species will ' successfully rise from the ashes '.

Gerd

[Robert]

Of coarse, I am not at all familiar with this site, however I do have questions.

Fire is not part of the natural ecosystem in this region as it is in California?

Fire will often improve the growth and propagation of California native bulbs.

It seems that a region that was prone to fire could benefit from fire - or at least it might have in the past before the natural fire cycle was disrupted. In California, even with the hot, unnatural crown fires that occur now, native bulbs generally benefit when the overgrowth is burned off and the ash adds nutrients to the soil. The only exception I may have observed were areas of the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park. In places the fire was so extreme that absolutely nothing sprouted after the fire. This is highly unusual and only occurred in isolated sites on the crest of some ridges where the fire could burn especially hot. Most areas sprout with new growth the first spring after a fire. My observations in California seem to indicate that all sorts of "new" plants appear after a fire, i.e. they were suppressed by the overgrowth for a number of reasons and the fire now gives them an opportunity to grow and thrive.

Anyway, it is very sad to hear about the loss of habitat. Keep a watch on the area. You might be pleasantly surprised by what returns very shortly and how well some species thrive.

[Yann]

I'll repay a visit to the area next march, Narcissus bulbs are often deep in the soil, not Acis.
If fire was fast burning, usually the case, bulbs will survive.

[Karaba]

As Robert, I'm quite confident that they will sprout again next year. I doubt that the fire cooked the earth several cm deep.
Acis fabrei is very localized but this forest represent a small part of its population, others populations are localized futher north.

Yann, are you talking about the fire of Gordes ?

[Hans J]

Hello ,

I have a good news ...
We are just back from a one week trip from southern France and we have visit all four locations of Acis fabrei - there was no any fires ...so nothing is destroyed from this very rare plants
I know only one location exact ( they have just starting with flowering ) from those others locations I have only rough ideas where they are ....it was a lot of effort with walking and searching but it was worth

I enclose a scan of a flyer with some informations about Jean -Henri Fabri ...this man was a really interesting botanist
( beside a lot of other interests )

Hans