Hi Mary Sue, Hopefully Hippeastrelias will become more frequent visitors to our gardens - and I think that we can assume that they will all have a different Hippeastrum parents, and some of them may also hail from different Sprekelia species - adding to the complexity of really knowing their origins. I've come across many intergeneric hybrids amongst orchids and as with all plants the intergeneric hybrid name is by international botanical rules a fusion of the two genera names. This fused name then takes the place of the two genera , so the new generic title is used together with a cultivar name. That is assuming that the breeder or the person who raised the intergeneric hybrid has its cultivar name registered, or that its name comes into print and common use. Using the the examples you gave - xAmarygia (Amaryllis/Brunsvigia) follows botanical nomenclature wheres the earlier intergeneric name of Brunsdonna doesnt as its a generic (Brunsvigia) and species (belladonna) combination. Hence if we pick on a few well known white flowered xAmarygia - we have cultivars (cultivated varieties) such as: xAmarygia parkeri xAmarygia Hathor xAmarygia Frank Leach or in the instance of a developed and notable strain : xAmarygia Multiflora Alba xAmarygia Multiflora Harbord Its quite likely that two to three Brunsvigia species were used in creating some of these white xAmarygia cultivars. In the instance of xAmarcrinum, the hybrid cross using Amaryllis belladonna and Crinum moorei was named "Amarcrinum howardii" and had an earlier name of Crinadonna corsii. When the IBS was registering these hybrids and printing their names in Herbertia journals - different Crinums species were used, however, most of these cultivars have identities that are now largely forgotten. As I have found from experience in Camellia cultivar registration, it is pointless to register a new cultivar unless there is an intention to propagate or widely distribute this cultivar to aid in this preservation and identity over time. Otherwise its name is epthermal and disappears with its raiser. If different Crinum species are used to cross with Amaryllis then the hybrids would need to be registered to acquire official cultivar names, otherwise the only way to preserve the identity of the cross is its full name eg. Amaryllis belladonna x Crinum macowanii. However, if a third genera is used eg xAmarygia X Crinum then the person registering this more complex hybrid for the first time can create a totally new genera name that doesnt require genera name fusions. Obviously this would only come into use if there is a Plant registration authority who accepts this new hybrid genera name. This leads to a further question who now are the registration authorities for new bulbous hybrid plants? The situation is more complex than that of orchid hybrids which are registered worldwide via RBG Kew. Most countries have plant cultivar registration authorites but some genera have specific international registration societies. For instance, the Clivia Society of South Africa is the Clivia hybrid registration authority. Is it still correct that the IBS is the registration authority for Hippeastrum hybrids? Cheers Jim Lykos Blue Mountains Australia Mary Sue Ittner wrote: > Dear All, > > Can someone explain the correct or customary way of naming > intergeneric hybrids? Long ago we discussed how we might create wiki > pages for them and Mark Mazer, Mark McDonough, and I decided we'd name > the page with the name for each one and then link that page to both > genera that were involved. No one has added any so I haven't had to > figure out what to call the page. In John Bryan's latest book he lists > these three: > > xAmarcrinum -- the name used for hybrids between Amaryillis belladonna > and Crinum moorei. Does this mean if there was another cross with > another Crinum it wouldn't be included in this name? > > xAmarine -- the name used for a combination of Amaryllis belladonna > and Nerine species or hybrids > > xAmarygia -- intergeneric hybrids between Amaryllis belladonna and > Brunsvigia. > > Are there others or a way to name those that aren't recognized by a > common name as the ones above? > > When I got back from my trip to my surprise blooming in my greenhouse > from Bill Dijk seed was a cross between a hybrid Hippeastrum and > Sprekelia. It was/is very pretty and I would like to add it to the > wiki if I can figure out how to name the page. > > I was rather amazed by this since I can't get Sprekelia to bloom at > all and keep threatening to toss the ones I have. Lee Poulsen says > that cultivar, Orient something is fool proof and long blooming so I > bought one in Southern California and it hasn't bloomed either. And my > luck with regular easy Hippeastrums isn't very good either. So > normally I pass on them, but this was seed from awhile ago. The seed > was labeled H. stylosum (mistake somewhere) and I had treated it like > that was what it was following instructions that someone supplied for > how to grow the different species. So I watered it and fertilized it > certain months and kept it completely dry for the winter months and > started watering when I was supposed to. Never did I expect it to > bloom. What an exciting welcome home present. > > Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. > > Mary Sue > > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >