Re: D. brevifolia from Dave Evans

dave evans (T442119@RUTADMIN.RUTGERS.EDU)
Fri, 25 Oct 96 18:29 EDT

> From: barry@AS.ARIZONA.EDU(Barry Meyers-Rice)
>
> Dave told me about these vigorous _D.brevifolia_ plants of
> his, with thick ropes and multi-year life spans. I thought he
> must clearly be wrong. But These plants are very vigorous and
> sturdy. Other clones of _D.brevifolia_ are absurdly difficult
> to cultivate by comparison, and with markedly inferior results.
> Very large flowers too. On the whole, a great strain!
> Congratulations go to Dave!

Thanks for the kind words, Barry. It wasn't even my idea to stop
at that site. We had seen some S.minor a couple of miles to the
south along the road, and Tom was certain we should stop and check
the area out. There were mostly shrubs and that is a good sign.
So we searched for P.pumila and Sarrs, but saw none. Then I noticed
that there were thousand of D.brevifolia growing under the grass.
Upon seeing this beautiful species, I knew it had a place in my
collection. I removed a tiny clump of soil holding about three
rosettes. Tom said I should not bother since they are so very
hard to transplant, and would soon die. Well, I tried anyway.
Now, people in Canada, AZ, and soon South Africa, have divisions
of those plants, it's really amazing! :)

Could these plants have some D.capilaris in them? They were growing
with that species, like they aways seem to. Also, they grow larger
than what I've heard mentioned for that species. They did produce
seed, but.... Comments?

Dave Evans