Pleione 2013

[erf]

Hello Lars
It looks very much like pleione chunii to mé. I have a similar clone that produces very small flowers. At a point I thought it might be hookeriana, but bulbs are to big for that. Whats your bulb like? Mine are semi large, slender and pointed at the neck. I wote for Pln. chunii 
Regards Erling

[LarsB]

Hello Erling,

I believe yours comes from the same source as mine, but i became doubtful when i saw a picture of hookeriana and chunii together. Suddenly it looked like a pale hookeriana. I can't find the picture, but i think it was somebody from this forum who had posted the picture.

[Slug Killer]

Hi Lars

Its Pleione chunii. Some clones do produce small flowers on tall stems like the picture below. 

It may also have been my picture of the difference between hookeriana and chunii you have seen on my species Gallery http://www.koolplants.co.uk/Pleiones.html . Pleione hookeriana have much smaller round (pea like) bulbs.

Original thread with image - http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=5448.msg154315#msg154315

[Maren]

Looks like P. chunii to me. They are miniatures compared with some of the large flowered hybrids. The flowers are usually no more than 3-4cm across.

[Maggi Young]

I do find the small flowered species very appealing- they are like little jewels.

[gregork]

Hello

I was wondering, since it is so hot. we have like 35°C, if it's ok to daily spray my Pleiones with water. sometimes i do that twice a day. i also water them once every 3-4 days. I dont know if thats too much. I dont want them to rot.

I was also wondering when is the best time to order autumn flowering Pleiones, since they are never in deep rest.
I saw a lot of pages where they sell them almost all the time. Can anyone recomend me a good nursery where i can buy
P. maculata ? i know it's a hard one for beginers but i just cant help myself. I think I'm in love  i would wait for Ian B. catalogue but it wasn't listed in previous one. i supose he is not selling them.

I also got that book The genus Pleione by Phillip C. and Ian B., that I ordered it online. I am soooo happy, read it from first to last word thank you Maren for helping me searching for that book store

regards
Gregor

[LarsB]

Thanks everyone. I'll keep the label

[Graham Catlow]

Graham,

It does look very like my Stromboli 'Fireball which is in flower right now (and I'm only 100miles south of you). Would you like me to post a picture for comparison? - probably tomorrow, as it's a little late now.

Peter - Apologies for not replying sooner. There are lots of photos on the internet and they are all very similar to mine. Thanks for the offer though and thanks for responding.

You don't have to buy one, Graham. I can send you one if you remind me when we reach that time of the year.

Lars - Also my apologies for not replying sooner. Thank you for your offer which I will gratefully accept. It will be best to confirm via a live specimen rather than photos. If there is something that you would like in exchange please let me know.

Graham

[LarsB]

Hi Graham,

Remind me around NMovember. I'll put it in my little list as well, then hopefully one of us will remember.

[Maren]

Hi Gregor,
I'm very pleased you found the book. If you want autumn flowering pleiones, I sell them in January after flowering.

[Maren]

Hi Gregor,
regarding the book "The Genus Pleione" by Phillip Crib and Ian Butterfield, it contains an error regarding classification of Pleione chunii. This has subsequently been corrected in various publications but of course not in the original book. Here is a description of the situation, as described by Paul Cumbleton on his excellent website :

P. chunii : The name "chunii" has had the most complex history! To cut a long story short, Cribb now believes this name should be correctly applied to plants that have previously been called "hookeriana var. sinensis" (which are sometimes also called P. hookeriana var. milanii or simply P. milanii). He had previously applied the name "chunii" to a species which both he and Torelli now agree is correctly called P. aurita. Torelli still believes that "chunii" is correctly applied to certain plants not yet in cultivation and known only from herbarium sheets. If this is so, then he says that "hookeriana var. sinensis" should correctly be called P. sinensis as it is clearly a species distinct from the true P. hookeriana. (Cribb's DNA work confirms that the plants he now calls chunii are not closely related to true hookeriana but are more closely related to aurita)."

[gregork]

Hi Maren!

I will definetely check this out i was reading about this classifications and i have to say it is sometimes very confusing all the changes that have been made.... 

thank you for the information !

best regards
Gregor

[LarsB]

Thank you Maren. I've always wondered why Cribb and Butterfield considered aurita and chunii to be the same species. 

[Maren]

Just been watering my pleiones. They have gone crazy in this weather, huge leaves promising a good harvest.

Trouble is, where the plants are close together, the leaves may deflect water from the pots underneath. And when watering vertically overhead, the water tends to depress the leaves so that they cover the tops of the pots, making the problem worse (see top diagram).

Not having any more space, I have decided to water them (with a lance) in two passes, angling the water spray at 45 degrees to the plants (bottom diagram) and lifting the occasional leaf if the vegetation is too dense:

- one pass from right to left and
- coming back from left to right.

This is hoping that water will reach everywhere. So far it seems to work.

[LarsB]

As there are no Pleione flowers right now, i took a few snaps with my mobile this morning of the roots on some of my maunted Pleione. Maybe i'm a bit crazy, but i think healthy roots a lovely to look at.