Re: temp Ping identification

From: Chris.Breckpot@olvz-aalst.be
Date: Mon Jul 28 1997 - 00:20:35 PDT


Date: Mon, 28 Jul 1997 09:20:35 +0200
From: Chris.Breckpot@olvz-aalst.be
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2834$foo@default>
Subject: Re: temp Ping identification

Hi All,

Gilles wrote :
>But what astonished me the most was to discover that the ones which grew
the most far away from the
>stream seemed not to have this damp soil that pings often appreciate, no
running water on the roots. As
>I know that often in mountains there can be running water a few
centimeters under the surface whithout
>you seeing it from the outside, I decided to dig a little to check it. No
running water, just normal and dry
>soil...whereas I thought that P. alpina was a rupicole species. Any
comments on that ?

To judge this habitat for its fitness for P. alpina you should visit it for
a few consecutive years at different moments. Then you will know more
about the continuity of the dryness of the place and the stability of its
P. alpina population.

>I have also found a very nice form of what I think to be P. leptoceras,
due to the hairy lower petals.
>The flower from the spur to the upper petals is purple, whereas the lower
ones are white with a thin
>purple edge on the outside, and light purple stripes going from the edge
to the center of the flower, it
>really looks great, especially with the white hairs on the deep purple
gorge, but what is even better than
>everything, is that more than half of the flowers had the three lower
petals doubled ! Yes, great flowers
>with 2+2*3=8 petals !!! At first I thought that it may have been caused by
frost, which often provoques >deformations, but the high rate of anormal
flowers, the fact that we were in mid july at approx. 1700m,
>and that the anomaly could be found on flowers at different stages makes
me wonder if it would not rather
>be a mutation.
>Has anyone ever seen such plants, am I right in identifying it as
leptoceras ? I have tried to use the pictures
>of the database to determine wether it was or not, but none of these
really matches... Anyway I've collected
>a specimen which should soon give seeds.

Your description of the petals reminds me of P. leptoceras from the
Maritime Alps. Take a look at pictures 70126 and 70154 in the database.
Casper did not mention P. leptoceras in La Vanoise but indicates places
close to it. The form of the seed cap from your drawing resembles on the
other hand those of P. grandiflora (the cap of P. leptoceras is globulose)
! Nevertheless, I think your determination was correct. Casper didn?t
report hybrids between P. leptoceras and P. grandiflora.
Gilles, roughly estimated, how many malformed flowers did you see ? I am
curious to know if the plants from your seeds will produce similar flowers.

Regards,

Christian Breckpot



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