Ibicella lutea

From: Wim Leys (leyswi@lin.vlaanderen.be)
Date: Mon Apr 21 1997 - 15:34:08 PDT 

Date: Mon, 21 Apr 1997 15:34:08 -0700
From: Wim Leys <leyswi@lin.vlaanderen.be>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg1546$foo@default>
Subject: Ibicella lutea

Hi,

Sorry for not having responded to the Ibicella lutea replys on the list.
It's been, and still is, very busy here at my office. So this won't be a
long contribution.

Thanks to all who have responded. I'll send it all to Sam.

Jan, I think I do have the true Ibicella lutea, based on
- the source of the seeds I received.
- I compared pictures of the plants as wel as the flowers of Ibicella
lutea and Probiscidea louisianica.

Clinton, Peter, thanks for the URL's, I have spend a few hours
downloading the pictures. I learned one thing : never surf the Web on a
friday.

For those who might be interested in sowing Ibicella :
- sow during February - March
- in regular potting medium (fertilised), mixed with some coarse sand
- place the seeds on top of the soil, do not cover them
- provide a temperature of 20 - 25 C
The first seeds should begin to germinate within a week.
- Transplant the seedlings in real big pots with regular potting medium.
- Fertilise regularly.

Some bits and things :
- Devil's Claw (Hi Gary) and unicornplant are the common names for
Ibicella lutea
- the juvenile fruits are edible; the fruits are prepared like _Cucumis
sativus_ ("Gurkentopf"). Some Indian tribes domesticated this plant for
the fruits.
- the plant can be used to control whitefly, flying aphids and other
small insects, just like Pinguicula
- oil can be extracted from the seeds, they contain about 60 % fatt.

Kind regards
Wim

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