[pbs] Sternbergia
John Grimshaw
j.grimshaw at virgin.net
Sun Dec 17 02:51:26 EST 2006
Like Jim McKenney my experience with Sternbergia clusiana comes from bulbs
imported and sold as S. lutea in the early 80s. Most died out but one bulb
has persisted without multiplying for probably 25 years. It has a
distinctive green note to the yellow of the flower - it is not as richly
yellow as the lutea clan. This is difficult to see in Jane's photo, with
the sun streaming through the flower, but is apparent in Brian Whyers pics
on the wiki.
The leaves of my solitary plant are somewhat glaucous - certainly not green
like lutea, but not as glaucous as my S. fischeriana. They have a slight
twist and I believe that this is a character of S. clusiana. It isn't easy
tobe sure from Jane's photograph, but I don't see why those leaves shouldn't
fit into the range of variation in S. clusiana (cf the vast variation in
foliage and flower shapes in the lutea/sicicula complex). In my experience
S. fischeriana also multiplies quite quickly, so one gets a nice tuft of
foliage from multiple shoots around the bulb (as visible on John Lonsdale's
pics on the wiki): Jane's plants do not show this.
John Grimshaw
Dr John M. Grimshaw
Sycamore Cottage
Colesbourne
Nr Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL53 9NP
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