Ammocharis/Cybistetes--TOW

Mary Sue Ittner msittner@mcn.org
Wed, 27 Oct 2004 19:59:41 PDT
Dear All,

I realized today that I am not growing Ammocharis after all so I suppose it 
doesn't matter that no one has answered my question about whether it could 
be grown on a Mediterranean climate schedule. I am still interested in 
knowing when it should be watered and if it should be protected from 
rainfall in winter. What I had confused it with when I looked at my records 
was Cybistetes longifolia. In my defense the Color Encyclopedia of Cape 
Bulbs says: " Cybistetes, with a single species, is most closely related to 
Ammocharis and it is questionable whether Cybistetes warrants status as a 
separate genus. Both genera have spreading leaves that exhibit the 
characteristic cutoff appearance when mature." The pictures of the flowers 
shows a similarity too. Does anyone who grows it have a picture we could 
add to the wiki?

Since this topic of the week is not generating a lot of responses I'd like 
to include another topic that was requested and add Cybistetes. Who grows 
this and what are your experiences with it? I started mine in April 2000. 
How many years before I could expect it to bloom? It is growing now, but I 
am sure that there are times in the winter when I haven't seen leaves. It 
grows in very dry spots and I think I recall Rachel saying it too was 
opportunistic and late rainfall could send it into bloom. The Encyclopedia 
described the leaves as perennial, green or dry at flowering. That seems a 
contradiction to me. Mine go dormant. Does that mean if I continued to 
water the leaves would stay green and would they be happier with this 
treatment? If they come from sandy or gravely flats in the northwest and 
southwest Cape, they would have periods without rainfall in nature.

I hope some of you will give us some more information about these two genera.

Mary Sue
Mary Sue Ittner
California's North Coast
Wet mild winters with occasional frost
Dry mild summers


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