Erythronium revolutum and Thoughts on Moist, Wet, Damp, and Well-drained

totototo@telus.net totototo@telus.net
Tue, 23 May 2006 15:36:33 PDT
I was browsing through the wiki and looked at the Erythronium page to 
see what it had to say about the species I'm familiar with. The 
comment was made about Erythronium revolutum that it likes damp, well-
drained conditions.

My own experience with this plant is that it likes to grow within 
sound of running water. In other words, it grows near streams. I've 
seen it thriving along Sutton Creek in sites that are clearly flooded 
during winter high-water.

"Damp" and "well-drained" in the same breath may seem like an 
oxymoron, but the point it that while E.r. wants moisture, it doesn't 
want *stagnant* moisture. It's a streamside plant, not a lakeside or 
swamp/marsh/bog plant.

At the same time, it takes fairly well to summer drought, as long as 
it doesn't get a baking in the sun like a Central Asian tulip. The 
same sites on Sutton Creek don't perhaps get as dry as does my 
garden, but plants collected there (well upstream from the BC govt 
ecological reserve!) have continued to thrive in the garden with 
little or no summer water. I will admit that the garden plants are 
not as robust in growth as they were in the wild.


-- 
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate

on beautiful Vancouver Island


More information about the pbs mailing list