I have been swapping pygmy gemmae with several people on this
listserver, and an explanation is about due for all the variants of
D occidentalis that I have - yes, some of them are the same. Real
botanists should turn up the stereo, close their eyes and press the
<page down> key cos what follows ain't pretty.
When I first started growing pygmies, material was available
labelled D occidentalis (1), D 'Warriup' (2) and D 'Beermullah' (3).
About the time Allen Lowrie published Vol 2, splitting occidentalis
into ssp occidentalis (4) and the larger and more numerous ssp
australis (5), material was also available of occidentalis 'Hay River'
(6) and occidentalis 'South Coast' (7). Subsequent distribution
lists by Allen Lowrie include occidentalis ssp occidentalis var
Beermullah (8), occidentalis ssp australis var Warriup (9) and
microscapa (10).
D occidentalis ssp occidentalis (4) was supposed to represent the
original collection of D occidentalis (1) and I am happy that they
are the same. D occidentalis 'South Coast' (7) is documented in
Allen Lowrie's list as being the early collection name of
occidentalis ssp australis (5) - I am relatively happy about this but
I have lost my original 'South Coast' material and some recently
supplied by a friend has clearly been contaminated with something
else. D occidentalis 'Hay River' (6) seems to me to be a pink
flowered variant of ssp occidentalis (4). The var Beermullah (8)
and var Warriup (9) appear to be an attempt to provide names for
D 'Beermullah' (3) and and D 'Warriup' (2) - the latter seems
feasible since they are both robust pink-flowered plants, but in
my opinion (and that of other growers who have both) var
Beermullah (8) and 'Beermullah' (3) are substantially different - in
fact I have even seen a suggestion that the latter is a synonym of
D 'Lake Badgerup'. Although similar in size and vigour, 'Beermullah'
(3) doesn't have red stigmas but sets seed occasionally. Even if I
had some botanical experience, I would be unable to suggest where
var Beermullah (8) and microscapa (10) fit in because I have been
unable to catch a flower open (although they both seem to be
white and set seed occasionally).
As a horticulturist hoping in some small way to help unravel the
occidentalis complex, I think it is better for me to leave synonymy
judgements to the botanists and preserve as many 'names' as I can
in my collection. If anyone has spare material from occidentalis (1)
or occidentalis 'South Coast' (7), please e-mail me privately.
Apologies to non-pygmy fans for this garbage, NigelH