Tropaeolum tricolor

Robin Attrill Robin@rpattrill.freeserve.co.uk
Tue, 10 Sep 2002 13:02:47 PDT
Mary Sue,

The plant is, correctly, T. tricolor, this being the only one of the two
names listed in the IPNI and in the Sparre and Andersson monograph (A
Taxonomic Revision of the Tropaeolaceae, Opera Botanica, No 108, 1991, ISBN
87-88702-47-2). The name tricolorum has cropped up in a few commercial
catalogues of late, but to my knowledge has not been validly published.

A host of subspecific names of T. tricolor were published in the 19th
century, based on cultivated selections, but in my experience the plant
currently in cultivation is very uniform.  Does anyone have any experience
of variation of the plant in cultivation or the wild?

One curious feature that I have found is a remarkable variation in the
quantity of flower produced year to year. I have had 3 tubers for ~8 years
and each produces ample foliage each winter, but the flowering is very
variable, from a few to 50+ per stem. This is despite the plants being grown
under near identical conditions (cool greenhouse) regarding temperature and
light from year to year.

regards

Robin




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