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Carol23
| | Posted on Monday, October 03, 2005 - 01:44 pm EST : |   
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Cyclamen are tubers, and I'd like to know if it's root or stem tissue.
When many Cyclamen species flower at once, what hybrids might occur? Could any species other than africanum and hederifolium cross?
How does one tell hederifolium from africanum? Is it possible?
Thanks for your replies!
Carol23
- Southeastern PA,
Zone "6B"
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Tim
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 04, 2005 - 04:15 pm EST : |
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Let's answer the easiest question first. The whole rhodium complex will cross with each other, with C. repandum, C. creticum and C. balearicum. Epithets for such hybrids are:
C.x meiklei (creticum x repandum)
C.x saundersiae (balearicum x repandum)
I dare say that one could make other combinations when cross pollinating plants, but the two above are the only established hybrids from this group of plants so far.
Apparently, C. libanoticum will cross with C. pseudibericum, although no such hybrid has cropped up in my own collection. I have grown this 'hybrid' from seed, only to find out that the plants were no more than C. pseudibericum with extremely pale flowers. I have seen other examples at shows, and despite this, still remain unconvinced that it really exists. Perhaps I simply haven't seen a true example yet.
C.x whitiae is the name given to the hybrid between C. graecum and C. hederifolium. I am convinced that this hybrid doesn't exist, and that plants thought to be this hybrid, are simply aberrant forms of hederifolium. Grey-Wilson states in his monograph that this hybrid is sterile, producing as far as he can see, no pollen at all. I obtained seed from the person who originally carried out the cross (and who the hybrid is named after), and grew the plants on to maturity. My plants looked exactly as they should have - flowers and leaves looked just like those in the photo in Grey-Wilson's monograph. Not only did my plants produce pollen, they also set seed. Viable seed too. Odd as the hybrid is supposed to be sterile. My original seeds must have been authentic, as the original grower reports their plants of this hybrid to be sterile, and that the only way to produce such seed is to carry ot the cross. I don't believe C.x whitiae exists.
C.x drydeniae is the name given to the hybrid between C. coum and C. alpinum. It's another one I'm not sure about, but that may be because I haven't seen enough examples of the plant. At least the examples I have seen, haven't convinced me at all. I have an open mind.
C.x hildebrandii is the name given to the hybrid between C. africanum and C. hederifolium. I find it very difficult to tell the two parent species apart, let alone spot hybrids between them!
Tim
- Cambridgeshire,
Zone "7 "
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Carol23
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 04, 2005 - 07:09 pm EST : |
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Thank you, Tim. I've printed it all up.
The tuber question came from Charles. He's not on the internet so puts me up to asking about things. My Botany course ( not the Bulbs Course) at Longwood listed Cyclamen as a tuber-corm. I thought a corm depleted itself during the growing season and made a new bulb. I've not seen mention of this anywhere else.
The only suggestion I've heard to tell the difference between africanum and hederifolium is to plant them out. The latter will survive and the others won't.
Carol23
- Southeastern PA,
Zone "6B"
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