Fritillaria 2012

[Maggi Young]

This nice little article popped into my Inbox today. Thought it might be interesting for some, 

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/RHS-Publications/Journals/The-Plantsman/2012-issues/December/Cultivating-Fritillaria-eduardii

Interesting - not sure how a cross between "varieties" can be a hybrid though... isn't a hybrid a cross between species......

[ronm]

Interesting - not sure how a cross between "varieties" can be a hybrid though... isn't a hybrid a cross between species......

 
I think there are a number of, can I say, 'questionable' statements made in this article Maggi. It certainly isn't a thorough examination of the species, 

'Interesting' covers a very wide range !

Still very nice plants  ......................and ones I find very difficult to grow in the open garden, 

[Maggi Young]

Hmm, well, I was being polite!

F. eduardii  is doing quite well  in our garden. It's a bit happier, I might say ( probably put the kiss of death on it right there!) than F. imperialis.(We are doing better with imperialis lately, with seed raised plants.)
Get some eduardii seed going Ron and you'll get some that are happy with you, I'm sure. Lovely things, really lovely.
I can quite see why they would be attractive for the cut-flower trade- good size and no foxy smell - but I have no real experience of how well they stand as a cut flower.

[ronm]

You're absolutely right Maggi, I must get some going from seed. It is something that I keep meaning to do but always the Liliorhiza get in the way!
I grow plants of the subgenus Petilium in large pots in a polytunnel. They grow fine but I really want to get at least F.imperialis outside. I will get busy with the paintbrush next year and get a load sown.
The best stand of F.imperialis I have ever seen was a group of a few hundred growing underneath a conifer hedge / feature at a 'stately home' outside York. I attended a 'specialist plant fair' there, but the only things I wanted to take home were this yellow forest of Frits. We have a length of leylandii ( !! ) that really needs to come out. The only thing that will save it is if I can establish some of these large Frits on the south side. I have a feeling the moisture sucking properties of this weed may help,

[rob krejzl]

Interesting - not sure how a cross between "varieties" can be a hybrid though... isn't a hybrid a cross between species......

Not when it's an intraspecific hybrid. Any cross between different dog breeds would technically be one of these, for example.

[Maggi Young]

Quite so, Rob,  but a long haired dachshund crossed with a rough haired dachshund is just a dachshund 

 A variety is not a sub-species, is it?

[rob krejzl]

long haired dachshund crossed with a rough haired dachshund is just a dachshund

A cross between a Labrador and a Poodle represents a commercial opportunity though, whatever you or I may think.

Intermediate flower colours offer similar novelty and the plants probably also have a little hybrid vigour.

It doesn't really matter whether the parents represent different families, genera,  species, sub-species or varieties, it's the bringing together of genes which would otherwise never be introduced to each other that makes a hybrid - the names just help us keep a handle on it.

[Maggi Young]

A cross between a Labrador and a Poodle represents a commercial opportunity though, whatever you or I may think.

Well, a glance at the adverts in the local paper here would certainly  confirm that!

I've always thought that we  humans are all bi-generic hybrids- after all, men are from Mars and women from Venus........

[rob krejzl]

I've always thought that we  humans are all bi-generic hybrids- after all, men are from Mars and women from Venus.....

You must be a proponent of Panspermia then

[Maggi Young]

You must be a proponent of Panspermia then

Well, that's    "life, but not as we know it"  as Star Trekkin' would have it.......

[Rick R.]

Here you go Rick, pictured here seed of F.eduardii.

http://www.fritillariaicones.com/info/Fritillaria_seeds.pdf

Thanks, Ron.  In fact, I had downloaded that pdf 2 years ago, but I forgot I had it (!).  And I also see there is quite a few added species in the interim.  The eduardii seed I saw did have that unusual tint of color, too.  Although still somewhat lighter in color, I think it would be normal.

[Lesley Cox]

Speaking of F. eduardii, we were packeting seeds for the NARGS seed ex a few days ago.  One of our members came me and said "look at this!".  It was a large pack of donated F. eduardii seeds.  Compared to most on this forum, I am quite the Fritillaria novice.  I've not seen eduardii seed before, but I have seen and germinated seed of F. raddeana and some of the other large seeded frits, like sewerzowii.   These eduardii seeds seemed a thicker than what I'm used to seeing and what struck me most is their blond appearance - very light tan, like the true seed of Lilium martagon var. album.  Is this normal?

The few seeds I've had of F eduardii have all been the tan shade from Ron's illustration but of F. imperialis, at least as grown in the Dunedin Botanic Gardens, the ripe seeds of the orangey/reddish form is tan while those of the yellow form are pale, almost ivory coloured. This is handy as I was given a bag of mixed forms and was able to separate out for those to receive them.

[Rick R.]

An interesting and useful tip, Lesley.  And if you were thinking about my description of the seed being a bit lighter than that F. eduardii image, I did catch that the yellow form of F. imperialis might also be a candidate suggestion.  Thanks.   But the size is way too large, so I believe F. eduardii is correct.

[ronm]

Not a new article by a long way,  but this is a rather nice piece on F.eduardii.

http://www.fritillaria.org.uk/Articles/fritillaria_forest_by_leonid_bodnarenko.htm

[Lesley Cox]

Yes, a nice article. I missed it in the FG Bulletin, or my memory has lost it! I found it much easier to read here, by highlighting it. Came out blue and white instead of the black and yellow of the link.