I should mention that when we were visiting S. Africa we did not have very
good references for ID. We only had The Flora of the Natal Drakensberg by
Donald Killick and The Botany of the Southern Natal Drakensberg by Hilliard
and Burtt. Somewhere between the collection which was listed as aff.
epiphyticus and the planting into the garden the aff. was lost. It is not a
positive ID, but seemed most likely at the time based on the books we had
and the info in the various botanical areas that we visited that had samples
with ID. We collected the seed in January, '96 on Naude's Nek right above
the parking area at the hairpin turn below the pass, up near the cliff face.
There were some also growing, not in rock crevices, as the literature
states, but in the very rocky meadow area below the cliffs.
Ours is just finished flowering and I would describe it as orange also,
although both Hilliard & Burtt and the newer Mountain Flowers: a Field Guide
to the Flora of the Drakensberg and Lesotho by Elsa Pooley show an "orange"
flower cluster and describe the color as red. Color desription are very
cultural, though. My wife (who is German) and I used to argue over the color
line between orange and red frequently, her "red" going well into my
"orange". Interestingly, she has been acculturated over the years of living
here (we now agree) and now cannot even remember those discussionsof thirty
years ago.
Perhaps Panayoti would have an opinion re whether C. epiphyticus grows in
that particular spot, or whether another Cyrtanthus does.
Sadly a freeze of 17 degrees F. in February this year, just about wiped me
out. I only had one plant blooming this year, whereas last there must have
been 25-30 inflorencences.
Apologies for not being more accurate with the nomenclature.
Ernie O'Byrne
Northwest Garden Nursery
86813 Central Road
Eugene, ORegon 97402
USA
USDA Z. 7B
"Most stern moralists are in the habit of thinking of pleasure as only of
the senses, and, when they eschew the pleasures of sense, they do not notice
that the pleasures of power, which to men of their temperament are far more
attractive, have not been brought within the ban of their ascetic
self-denial."
-- Bertrand Russell
-----Original Message-----
From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Mary Sue Ittner
Sent: Saturday, August 05, 2006 5:37 PM
To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [pbs] Cyrtanthus epiphyticus
Blooming now from BX seed offered by Ernie O'Bryne in January 2004 is
Cyrtanthus epiphyticus. My flowers don't look like the ones that are
pictured on the wiki from Bill Dijk, <SNIP>