Re: A New Subscriber!

John Taylor [The Banshee] (rphjt@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU)
Thu, 22 Apr 93 12:11:23 +0000

>>I think I also have this (or a very similar) clone of U. "capensis".
>>The flowers are about 5mm across and are mostly white with a pale
>>purple blotch near the corolla (I think this was fairly large, maybe
>>covering 1/4-1/2 the lower corolla - I'll see if any are still
>>flowering...) Maybe there are two distinct forms/subspecies (or
>>different species entirely?) and this clone is the hybrid??
>>(Actually, I think my form was about the same size as the U.
>>pentadactyla I have - in fact they are very similar plants (maybe only
>>superficially so...))
>
>
>Hmmm. I'd scrub the ssp. etc. idea, because there are many
>intermediate forms, from big colourful flowers to small drab ones. So
>probably it's best to consider it a single variable species. If there
>were no intermediate forms you might have more strength to your
>argument.

It was just a thought!

>I've probably already said this, but I've noticed _U.pentadactyla_ in
>cultivation has always been _U.bisquamata_. Look to the flowers---those
>of _U.pentadactyla_, like its name says, are *deeply* incised to five
>fingers---about the same relative dimensions as fingers on your hand.

Uh Oh, mine only had a kind of wriggly edge to the lower lip - definitely not
long, thin, separate "fingers".... I hate buying mislabelled plants!

>>@$%#$^ The seeds of U. alpina that I bought from Allen Lowrie haven't
>>germinated yet (neither have the most of the other seeds, for that
>>matter...)
>:-(
>
>Good luck---as I understand it, this is a difficult plant to get going
>from seed. TAYLOR rarely discusses cultural details, but mentions that
>even the able people at Kew were unable to sustain seedlings. But it
>could have been a freak attack of mould or something...

Now you tell me! I'm hoping that my Byblis liniflora and Drosera stolonifera
spp. prostrata (I think that's the right species name) will grow OK though
I don't hold out much hope for the two Pinguiculas.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| John Taylor [The Banshee] | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology |
| rphjt@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au | Department of Applied Physics |
| MOKING IS A HEALTH HAZARD. | Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA |
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