Yellow Nothoscordum/Ipheion

Mary Sue Ittner msittner@mcn.org
Fri, 13 Apr 2007 20:02:20 PDT
Hi,

Originally Bill Dijk shared with a number of us plants he called Ipheion 
sellowianum and Ipheion dialystemon. Then we were told they were to be 
called Nothoscordum, not Ipheion. Alberto informed us that even though 
Nothoscordum dialystemon had 8 tepals and Ipheion sellowianum had six that 
in South America they both were considered to be Nothoscordum felipponei so 
that is how we listed them on the wiki.
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
There are pictures and descriptions of the climate where they grow under 
that name.

If you search the Kew world check list for Nothoscordum you find that the 
compiler does not consider N. felipponei to be a valid name. The accepted 
name (I love this concept, as I always think accepted by whom) is Tristagma 
sellowianum (Kunth) Traub, Pl. Life 19: 61 (1963).
Homotypic Synonyms listed are :
Brodiaea felipponei (Beauverd) Herter, Estud. Bot. Reg. Uruguay 4: 47 (1931).
Beauverdia felipponei (Beauverd) Herter, Boissiera 7: 510 (1943).
Ipheion felipponei (Beauverd) Traub, Pl. Life 5: 50 (1949).
Tristagma felipponei (Beauverd) Traub, Pl. Life 19: 61 (1963).

However if you then search on that same list for Nothoscordum sellowianum 
you find that the accepted name is:
Nothoscordum bivalve var. bivalve
Homotypic Synonyms:
Allium sellowianum(Kunth) Regel, Trudy Imp. S.-Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 3(2): 
117 (1875).
Allium bivalve var. sellowianum (Kunth) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 3(2): 313 
(1898).

If you search under Ipheion sellowianum you will find it is not an accepted 
name. It is listed as Tristagma sellowianum with these synonyms:
Triteleia sellowiana
Milla sellowiana
Hooker sellowiana
Brodiaea sellowiana
Beauverdia sellowiana

The RHS plant finder lists Ipheion sellowianum.

As for the other plant on the Kew list it is listed as:
Nothoscordum dialystemon (Guagl.) Crosa, Darwiniana 19: 344 (1975).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Ipheion dialystemon Guagl., Darwiniana 16: 800 (1971).
  There is this note:
This name is not Accepted by:
Zuloaga, F.O. & Morrone, O. (eds.) (1996). Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae y 
Angiospermae (Monocotyledoneae). Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares de la 
República Argentina 1: 1-323. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis. [as 
Ipheion dialystemon]

The RHS plant finder lists  Ipheion dialystemon.

Now if you look up Nothoscordum on the Mobot site you will find the family 
listed under Liliaceae although other sites list it under Alliaceae
and you will find Nothoscordum felipponei with two other accepted name 
citations. The first listed under Amaryllidaceae is
Beauverdia felipponei (Beauverd) Herter and the second is Ipheion 
sellowianum (Kunth) Traub (listed back under Liliaceae).

On the other hand if you look under Nothoscordum sellowianum you find it 
listed as an accepted name along with
Nothoscordum bivalve (L.) Britton
with the Basionym: Ornithogalum bivalve L.  and 19 synonyms. The synonyms 
are listed as under Allium, Geboscon, Oligosma, and Ornithogalum.

Nothoscordum dialystemon and Ipheion dialystemon are listed as synonyms on 
the Mobot site.

This is all so confusing for those of us wanting to grow these plants, 
obtain them, or share them. But it looks like a number of authorities 
consider there to be two or three different species so maybe I need to 
change them on the wiki. It looks like Nothoscordum dialystemon (syn. 
Ipheion dialystemon). But I'm not sure about the other one I grow. Should 
it be Nothoscordum bivale or Tristagma sellowianum or Nothoscordum 
sellowianum or Ipheion sellowianum? It certainly isn't creamy like Dennis 
describes N. bivale on the wiki. It would be helpful to have some 
descriptions following these names, but I'm sure that would be far too 
complicated.

Both of the ones I grow are charming bright yellow winter flowering plants. 
My experience follows some of those reported in that they are long blooming 
and don't usually set seed. After I shared excess with the BX my plants 
remained dormant for a couple of years to my great sorrow. But like Rodger 
I finally got most of them going again by putting them in my greenhouse in 
summer where it was warmer and watering them occasionally. They now go 
there every summer along with the Nerine sarniensis that blooms more 
reliably for me with summer warmth and water. Blooming for me this year for 
the first time from Mark McDonough seed is Nothoscordum montevidense. I was 
surprised how tiny the flowers were, but I'm still happy to have it.

Mary Sue


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