Autumn flowering Narcissus 2011

[Anthony Darby]

I was baptised Swedenborgian as that was the church in Long Lane, Dalton.

[annew]

I would sell my snowdrop books to buy it 

[Gerry Webster]

I would sell my snowdrop books to buy it 

Anne - if it is published as a real book I think you would need to sell more than your snowdrop books. Since sales would be tiny, it is likely to be very expensive.  I suppose it could be published online.

[Rafa]

DNA studies in Narcissus genus are not very useful tool as it changes in the same species, in the same locality depending the altitude.
 
Geographical distribution and Alkaloids research are much interesting tools because it also explains the evolutive relation between species. I am quite exceptic about RHS classification because this genus is extremely complex and it needs years of field research. If you collect few samples, surely, it will be a huge list of different species like in the past. Most of the names in the old calssification were invalid, retired by their own authors, but I saw it again in following classifications ej: Narcissus lagoi, Narcissus juressianus, Narcissus calcicarpetanus etc.. etc.. also other legitime names that are not recognize like N. obsoletus (since Parkinson's draw), and not N. miniatus.

I suggest to RHS researches to live some years in Spain during the study, otherwise I'm affraid it will be another case of greenhouse taxonomy. It's a nice place, very sunny! good food, and with Portugal, North west Africa, the geographical origin of the genus.

[Hans A.]

.. also other legitime names that are not recognize like N. obsoletus (since Parkinson's draw), and not N. miniatus.

http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-347508  - following Kew N. obsoletus is accepted  

Glad on my small island only grow three species ...  

[Rafa]

You are wrong Hans, there is a place in Mallorca where you can find N. cantabricus as well and many other species.... YOUR GARDEN! 

[Hans A.]

  - you might be right, and I think most of them are still correct labeled

[annew]

I suggest to RHS researches to live some years in Spain during the study, otherwise I'm affraid it will be another case of greenhouse taxonomy. It's a nice place, very sunny! good food, and with Portugal, North west Africa, the geographical origin of the genus.

There is already someone who has been there researching for some time... 

[Rafa]

you? Anne?

[Oron Peri]

Love this peach form of N. obsoletus, Oron. Is it Gerd's selection?

Sorry Rafa, missed that, yes it is Gerd's selection.

[Rafa]

Oh thank you Oron, so we could call it Narcissus obsoletus var. knochei ?

[arillady]

Personally I will wait till Rafa decides to write up all his findings - with his marvellous illustrations to show features.
I should imagine that authors of plant books do not always make a living from that alone.
This book will need to be written in conjunction with the aril book that he will co author and illustrate with Oron and Miriam etc
This is for your spare time Rafa

[Rafa]

OHH! Pat, thank you for your compliment  I am just a amateur botanist.... most of the scientific people here, involved in Narcissus research consider me quite mad!! anyway they leave to participate in their projects. We are going to publish next year an interesting paper of Narcissus genus, based in alkaloids. Quite perturbing conclusions and results...

Concerning illustration, I starting again to paint since I stopped the house works. A long winter comes and I hope to make many many watercolors. Maybe I will make any expo in Scottland someday, here there are not much interest in botanical art. Aslo I will prepared a bird illutration expo. I am currently working in a plate of Iris nectarifera, thanks to a picture that Hans sent me, and also a plate with N. obsoletus, N. viridiflorus and their hybrids N. x alleniae (the official one) and another direcction of hybrid, I discovered two years ago that I called N. x rutherfordii.

The actual Taxonomy Laws just support one hybrid, don't matter who has done male or female gamets, or if the hybrid is self fertile and don't need any longer their ancient parents, the name have to be the same N. x alleniae. This is a mixtake in my oppinion, it is not the same AxB or BxA, at least in Narcissus genus, but I am starting to think that it is fundamental in any genus. Of course, I also understand as a mixtake to call N. x .... somthing that is self fertile, which is creating bigger populations than the parents.

Today is blooming in the green house Narcissus albicans, but I don't know where I leave the camera!!.

PS: Anybody has comunicated recently with Ezeiza member (Dr. Alberto Castillo) no news from him since many days...

[David Nicholson]

PS: Anybody has comunicated recently with Ezeiza member (Dr. Alberto Castillo) no news from him since many days...

Rafa, Alberto has posted on the PBS List recently.  Found your camera yet?

[Oron Peri]

Oh thank you Oron, so we could call it Narcissus obsoletus var. knochei ?

var knochei or knochii sounds good to me only that the species name itself would probably change 3 more times in the next couple of years...