[pbs] T clusiana
John Grimshaw
j.grimshaw at virgin.net
Wed Nov 14 01:22:01 EST 2007
I think that the important point in the discussion of Tulipa clusiana is
that the plant that has been known in horticulture by this name for four
centuries is a sterile clone that spreads by stolons, presumably the
pentaploid mentioned by Ben Zonneveld. It is naturalised in the
Mediterranean. To my mind it seems certain that this was an old Ottoman
selection that has been spread around because of its vigour and ease of
propagation. It is sad that within the past few years it has lapsed from
commercial cultivation in Holland: a stock I had last year that was
proclaimed to be the 'real thing' was a substitute of very similar
appearance, but larger in the flower, a slightly different shade and also
fertile. All horticultural references to T. clusiana prior to recent years
refer to this single clone.
The wild populations - formerly known as T. stellata and T. chrysantha - are
from much further east and are normally variable, reproducing by seed. They
have given rise to several cultivars available in the trade.
John Grimshaw
Dr John M. Grimshaw
Sycamore Cottage
Colesbourne
Nr Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL53 9NP
Tel. 01242 870567
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----- Original Message -----
From: "B.J.M. Zonneveld" <B.J.M.Zonneveld at biology.leidenuniv.nl>
To: <pbs at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 10:32 AM
Subject: [pbs] T clusiana
>T clusiana indeed range from diploid to pentaploid. I don't know if they
> are in mixed populations. Only the pentaploid seems to have expanded as
> far as Spain due to the fact it makes stolons. I suppose the diploid ( T
> aucheriana) does not make stolons.
> It is for sure that T clusiana has not contributed anything ( despite
> some suggesting otherwise) to the gesneriana type cultivars of today.
> They cannot be crossed and differ strongly in nuclear DNA content
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