Hippeastrum species fieldguide

Andrew McDougall agiascach@hotmail.com
Sat, 31 Jan 2015 02:54:14 PST
I agree with you Alberto that if all this information was put together in one book it might be used in a destructive way, but for those of use who would like to grow rare plants to conserve them this information could be really useful. A great example of the type of work I would like to see for Hippeastrum is the 3 volume Grevillea book by Neil Marriott and Peter Olde. This work lists the species description of every known species (at the time of publishing), and the conservation status, so it is a reliable scientific work, but it also lists the pollinators, where known, response to fire, soil and ecology, and its history and performance in cultivation. For me it has made possible to germinate seeds of genuinely difficult grevilleas and is one of my most useful books. Unfortunately this type of information just isn't freely available for hippeastrums. I know that H. calyptratum is pollinated by bats and that H. aulicum is thought to be an epiphyte and also occurs on the groun
 d possibly in some situations, and I have personally observed H. vittatum looking plants growing in soils on the forest floor where the jungle was a bit more open, but that is the limit of my real species knowledge. So I am having a real struggle with cultivating certain species. H. mandonii information  just doesn't appear to exist,  especially soil type (I hope somebody can prove me wrong) so I don't know how to get this one to grow. One I have really is thriving but is it just the better drainage?
I definitely agree that accurate species maps should not go into any field guide, but conservation status and risks in the wild definitely should. I know that now most species in South America have some degree of protection by law, but having travelled out into remote areas I can tell you that enforcement is an issue.
But a book like this could actually be a conservation tool I guess. My plants are grown from correctly collected seed as far as I know, and most if not all are from cultivation I believe. My motive is not just to enjoy them but to share the seed when it becomes available. There are amaryllid plants that are local to me that are being cultivated by many members of the Australian Native Plant Society, the yellow flowered Crinum (luteolum? or flaccidum? no one really knows) and some different coloured Calostemmas. These plants still need protection in the wild, but even governments can be irresponsible and allow destruction in the wild by mining, so at least cultivating them helps
Just my views anyway, I wont be writing a Hippeastrum book any time soon. But hopefully I will have some Hippeastrum seeds to share, as well as Crinum and Calostemma.

 
> From: ezeizabotgard@hotmail.com
> To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2015 03:18:47 +0000
> Subject: Re: [pbs] Hippeastrum species fieldguide
> 
> " It's practically useless as a field guide"
> 
> Thanks God. The only purpose of a field guide would be to assist in wiping the last individuals and this time render them all extinct.
>  		 	   		  
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