Date: 06 Nov 1997 14:53:47 +0100 From: Loyd Wix <Loyd.Wix@unilever.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg4245$foo@default> Subject: Re. U.arenaria/U.livida
Dear Derick,
>I have a plant that is labeled "U.arenaria" that is now in
>the midst of flowering and the flowers look an awful lot
>like another plant I have labeled U.livida.
U.livida is a very variable plant showing a wide range of
flower shapes and colours. Some of the smaller less brightly
coloured forms can bear a resemblance to U.arenaria.
>I'm pretty sure the U.livida has been labelled correctly,
as >I have seen this in other people's collections
flowering, >and they're the same look, but I've never seen
U.arenaria >before, so I'm not sure if this plant looks a
lot like >U.livida, has been mislabelled or just invaded by
U.livida.
The commonest form of U.livida that I have seen in
cultivation in the UK has approximately 1cm oval bi-coloured
(white/mauve) flowers. The U.arenaria that I grow has
flowers allot narrower than this common clone of U.livida.
The over all flower colour is off white with darker mauve
markings - superficially the flowers have elements which
reminds me of both U.livida and U.sandersonii.
>The flowers are close enough that I can't really tell any
>major differences; it's possible that the U.arenaria has a
>slightly longer spur and maybe a little more pointed lower
>corolla lip.
According to Taylor the spur in U.arenaria is longer in
comparison with the lower corolla lip than in U.livida,
differences also occur in the pedicles but at the moment I
have no flowers to compare against.
> The leaves in the pot of U.arenaria were small, ovate
>(2-3mm x 4-5mm) dark green leaves very close to the ground.
>Lately, it's sent up some slightly longer, narrower,
>lighter green leaves that have been a bit more vertical in
>growth, but that may just be because they're new leaves.
U.livida typically produces broader leaves than U.arenaria
some of which can be 'fan' shaped.
One difference I have noticed in cultivation is that
U.arenaria sets plenty of seed without my intervention. The
common U.livida clone I mentioned doesn't set seed even when
I have attempted to hand pollinate the flowers. However
other U.livida plants I grow particularly the attractive
blue flower forms will set seed so this observation is not
enough to confirm the ID. If possible take some photos of
the plants.
I hope this has been of some help.
Kind Regards
Loyd
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:31:13 PST