Ornithogalum identification help

Dietrich Müller-Doblies d.mueller-doblies@gmx.de
Thu, 14 Jun 2012 07:17:00 PDT
Dear Laura & Dave,
I am pretty sure that your suggestion will solve the identification problem.
The  Central European endemic O. pyramidale L. 1753 is the elder sister 
of the South European O. narbonense L. 1756. Both species are so close 
allies that the younger sister is also called O. pyramidale ssp. 
narbonense (L.) Aschers. & Graebner. I know O. narbonense & O. 
pyrenaicum from the field, but O. pyramidale I only know from the Berlin 
Botanical Garden: in the sixty years (diamond jubilee) of my botanical 
field observations I never saw it in the field, as far as I remember.
You find the *best Ornithogalum key *in Flora Europaea vol. 5 by 
Zahariadi. Zahariadi was the only botanist who had a clear insight into 
Ornithogalum in a literal sense. He looked into the secret structures of 
all Ornithogalum bulbs which he could get hold of in his large living 
collection. From my occasional side-tracks of bulb structure studies of 
Amaryllidaceae looking into Albuca, Scilla, Ornithogalum and other 
Hyacinthaceae I could fully confirm Zahariadi's results when we (my wife 
Ute & I) met him in the early seventies in Athens.
Thus, I propose that you make good photos of your plants and send them 
via PBS to Lauw  de Jager, whether he can agree that your photos 
represent his plant.
Dietrich


Am 14.06.2012 09:35, schrieb Laura & Dave:
> Hi All
>     I'm not sure if this will help, or just cloud the issue, but I've been
> growing a group of plants that look very similar to the ones pictured for many
> years.  I received the seed under the valid name O. pyramidale, but I haven't
> found a good key to the genus to verify this.  They are in mid-flowering now, so
> perhaps I can get a few pictures for comparison.  When I recently repotted them,
> the bulbs did have a bit of a pyramidal shape, one of the characteristics noted
> for this species.  With luck, I should have ample seed to send to the Bx.
> Dave Brastow
>     Tumwater, Washington (7A - and still raining)
>
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