Re: D. cistiflora reply

From: Dave Evans (T442119@RUTADMIN.RUTGERS.EDU)
Date: Mon Mar 01 1999 - 19:02:00 PST


Date:    Mon, 01 Mar 99 22:02 EST
From: Dave Evans                           <T442119@RUTADMIN.RUTGERS.EDU>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg628$foo@default>
Subject: Re: D. cistiflora reply

Dear Mark,

> proper dormancy so I plan on keeping the medium just moist.
> From what I've read D. cistiflora needs around three months.
> Hopefully when they come back the fabled "aerial" growth will
> commence. For me this species is VERY slow growing, unlike its
> cousin the dreaded "capensis"!

   D.cistiflora needs to be kept drier than VFT or D.capensis like
for their dormancies. The upright growth of this species is truely
amazing! Once they start growing upright, the pace picks up a lot.
Also, I believe D.cistiflora has about a month more, something like
four months for dormancy...

> An interesting observation- a couple months back I transplanted a few of
> these. When I washed the soil away I discovered that the lower portion of
> the root was quite swollen. I presume that this acts as a sort of "tuber" to
> keep the plant going from year to year.

  It does the same job as a tuber. BTW, what is the difference
between a corm and a tuber? In this case, D. cistiflora has roots
similar to carrot or radish. In the second year, carrot and radish
die after flowering, but D.cistiflora can live on year after year.
I wonder though if the roots live longer than a year, or do they
have to grow anew each season?

Dave Evans



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:31:55 PST