Crinophone ... is it possible?

Ken kjblack@pacbell.net
Tue, 14 Sep 2010 08:42:29 PDT
Hi Jim,
 
Thank you for responding!  I harvested one of the capsules this morning ... it was the lone fruit on a flower stem which has dried out in the last week and collapsed.  I opened it to find one seed ... pic at: http://flickr.com/photos/amarguy/…
 
It appears 'healthy' ... about twice as large as an ordinary B.disticha seed and nearly round.  Seed I've gotten off this Crinum in the past has been much larger by 2 or 3 times ... and irregularly shaped, usually 2-4 in a pod.  Don't know if an indication of a valid cross or not.  Will monitor for germination.  Would you recommend keeping it dry until signs of radical emergence and/or possibly dust if with a fungicide to ward off such infection?
 
I have 4 other pods ... 2 on each of 2 flower stems, which appear to be slightly larger than the harvested capsule:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/amarguy/4989687347/
 
BTW ... I'm a bit confused by what I see on the web ... is C.asiaticum = C.procerum?
 
You mentioned Amarcrinums with C.procerum as the seed parent.  I've tried xAmaryllis pollen on my few Crinums, but the seed looks more like Crinum ... green, large and irregularly shaped, and those that I grown to flower appear identical to the mother Crinum, so I suspect clones.  
 
Another question for you re xA.belladonna .... I posted a FLICKR pic yesterday of what appears (to me) to be a large flowered specimen in my yard ... from 'excess' seed.  All my A.belladonnas and hybrids have flowers 7-11cm across ... but this one is between 15-16cm.  Now maybe all my bulbs are just from small-flowered stock and this large one is not abnormally so.  What is your experience?  
 
Thanks again,
 
Ken Blackford
San Diego
 
 

--- On Tue, 9/14/10, jim lykos <jimlykos@bigpond.com> wrote:


From: jim lykos <jimlykos@bigpond.com>
Subject: Re: [pbs] Crinophone ... is it possible?
To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 5:14 AM


Hi Ken,

Your cross sounds marvelous if it comes off.  I know from similar bigeneric crosses I've made using C. procerum and C. pedunculatum that  the apomatic seed outcome is the more likely, but on those occasions where bigeneric fertilisation occurs and the seed grows - the maturation of the seed is often the crucial stage. Its at that point that  hybrid seed is likely to die - the seeds can become pulpy or fungus infected due to poor epidermal seed cover and the radical fails to emerge.
If you lose most of the seed then its very likely that you did make the bigeneric cross - and the issue might well be finding a better seed parent next time around.
I've found that large plants of  C. procerum are remarkably seed fertile - although usually aptomatically but with persistence and if fertilised in early Autumn the seed have a better prospect of  better seed development  as I have found in eventually creating Amarcrinums using C, procerum as the seed parent.
Cheers

Jim

----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken" <kjblack@pacbell.net>
To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 9:45 AM
Subject: [pbs] Crinophone ... is it possible?


I have this urge to play Frankenstein ... even with my limited knowlege. Earlier this year, I completely covered the sticky end of the stigma(s) on my Crinum asiaticum with Boophone disticha pollen. I repeated this effort over several days in addition to removing the Crinum stamens asap. I've got 7 swelling capsules, which seem fairly firm, but smaller than in previous years. Is such a cross even possible? Are these likely just apomictic seed?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amarguy/4988415236/

Ken Blackford
San Diego


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