[pbs] Lycoris caldwellii - some thoughts and praise
James Waddick
jwaddick at kc.rr.com
Sun Sep 2 12:05:57 EDT 2007
Dear Friends,
Before the sun heats up the garden, I did my morning patrol
and was impressed at Lycoris caldwellii. I mentioned this species
briefly in a recent note to PBS.
This species is a member of the subgenus Lycoris mostly
characterizes by the spidery flowers and fall foliage (though not all
fit this generalization). L. cadwellii is an exception in both ways.
The flowers are more 'nearly' regular than spidery and foliage
appears in spring. The karyotype is identical to that of L.
squamigera (2n = 27) and has been sterile here. Like L. squamigera it
could be a natural hybrid involving L. sprengeri and L. straminea,
but this is just guessing.
The flowers in bud show pink stripes similar to L. incarnata,
but the buds open a uniform pale yellow tipped with faint pink.
During my walk I realized it is planted in six parts of the
garden. The most exposed, driest and largest planting is not blooming
well. Four short stalks where there should be dozens. Elsewhere the
stalks are nearly full size and each site has multiple stems nearly
normal. This is very different from all other Lycoris this season .
Where they managed to bloom at all, single stems were more common
than multiple stems and they were distinctly shorter than normal.
Perhaps L. caldwellii shows some better drought tolerance by
blooming at nearly normal season, two weeks to 10 days after L.
squamigera.
So although the pale flowers are subdued, they still are
produced in clumps and in the cooler morning air are certainly worth
the stroll. On all counts it has performed as well as L. squamigera.
Anyone else care to share a good word on this lesser grown
Lycoris species.?
Best Jim W.
--
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph. 816-746-1949
Zone 5 Record low -23F
Summer 100F +
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