I believe (and this is not a certainty,) that Ibicella lutea is a
native of Brazil (yes Fernando - closer to home than you thought,
eh?) It is an introduced weed in the US, and was formerly classified
as Proboscidea lutea and Martynia lutea before arriving at its
present name. Proboscidea is the genus of Devil's Claw, used in some
homeopathic remedies - the seed cases are vicious, animal-catching
things with enormous curved spikes that get stuck on and in the
ankles of wandering mammals who then scatter the seeds over a wide
area. I know of two species - parviflora and fragrans (annuals I
think.)
Martynia? Haven't a clue - either an invalid, old generic name or
I. lutea drifted into an obscure and inappropriate genus at some time.
> The specialist in this field is certainly Dr.Barry (M.-R.). He has explored
> the relevant literature and cultivated the species concerned, and I think
> he could give a short account on his findings here (how about that, Barry?
> I.e. if you are not in Chicago at this moment.). As far as I can remember,
> some representatives of this group are at home in S AM (Brasil!), and you
> mostly get the wrong genus if you order seed of _Ibicella_ (or the other
If you order Proboscidea, you'll get Devil's Claw - certainly no
enzymes, tall, sticky, unfussy weed. If you order Ibicella, you'll
get Ibicella - possible enzymes, tall, sticky, unfussy weed.
I don't know what you'd get if you ordered Martynia - a tall, sticky,
unfussy weed I expect...
If you want Ibicella, insist on the specific _lutea_ - then it
doesn't matter if they've mislabelled the genus since Ibicella
lutea = Proboscidia lutea = Martynia lutea (at least according
to Gordon Cheers.)
Hope this helps,
Peter
(waiting for my Prob. parviflora to germinate)