G.'Magnet'

[apothecary]

The famous 'Magnet'.  I have several samples of this from two different locations.  I remember feeling very confused last year because my sample from Springwoods matched none of the 3 growing in the Double Walled Garden.  Likewise, the 3 in the Double Walled garden should have been from one original clump but there seemed to be 3 distinct groups, at least 2 of which had 'Magnet' labels with the same accession number.  Some may have been something else entirely with labels mixed up.

I hope to solve at least part of the mystery this year.  The first set of pics below are from sample 'b' which hails from the Double Walled Garden.  Unfortunately, one of my samples produced only one flower this year which was promptly eaten by something so some things will just have to wait a bit longer to be resolved.

I don't feel I really have the experience to comment on the 'Magnet-like' movement produced as a result of the pedicel length, shape etc.  Suffice to say, I believe the characters of some of these samples were more prominent in this respect last year than this year.

I would be very grateful, once again, for your help.

[Paul T]

If it's anything like here in Australia there are things that look rather similar sold under that name.  I'm guessing that the seedlings are similar enough that to the general public they are close enough, and to most of us Aussies just seeing a snowdrop of any type in a nursery is pretty impressive!! 

Good luck with sorting out all your IDs.

[Martin Baxendale]

It's not 'Magnet', Kristina. The mark should be more narrowly V-shaped and longer, not widely splayed like this mark.

If the original clumps seem m ixed, it's possible that different bulbs from adjoining clumps got mixed during lifting to send out from South Hayes. Or, as you say, labels got mixed after they arrived at NBGW.

I'll try to get a pic of 'Magnet' showing the (quite distinctive) mark later today and post it here - or perhaps I can find one elsewhere on the forum and point you towards it (or Maggi might be able to help if she's online today). Or you could try using the search facility on the forum for Magnet and 'Magnet' - I'm sure there;s at l;east one pic on the forum (maybe on the old forum).

[Martin Baxendale]

Kristina, clicking this shortcut will (should, I hope!) take you to a recent pic of Magnet on a different thread. It's not a close-up, but you can just about see the narrow V mark, and of course the very dangly pedicel:

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=947.msg28806#msg28806

[Anthony Darby]

Jings. I need to get my specs!

[Martin Baxendale]

Here you go, Kristina, you should be able to see the mark (and the dangly pedicel) more clearly on these close-up pics of a flower from the garden just now:

Magnet

[Martin Baxendale]

The flower you've shown looks like one of the "Arnott-types". Most likely 'S. Arnott' (it's not a 'perfect' Arnott mark, but you really only get a perfect Arnott mark if the bulb's large and growing well, and it sounds like your clumps aren't giving their best). It doesn't look like 'Neil Fraser' to me. I'd label it Gal. hybrid ('S. Arnott' ?) until you can get a better ID, perhaps when the bulbs are more settled and producing bigger flowers with a better mark.

[Martin Baxendale]

does magnet not allways produce the typical long pedicels? i allways thought this was how you could tell it was magent?

rob

Yes it does, and Kristina's plant doesn't have a long dangly pedicel. But there are other snowdrops with long pedicels like Magnet, like Galatea, which inexperienced snowdrop growers might (and have been known to) confuse with Magnet. So you really need to see the long pedicel and also the correct mark. The long pedicel alone isn't enough to ID Magnet.

[Alan_b]

Many snowdrops have long pedicels but the true magnet should have a pedicel that forms an arc with the snowdrop dangling at the end.  In Kristina's photographs the pedicel is upright until quite close to the flower so it isn't 'Magnet', however long the pedicel is. 

[Martin Baxendale]

Many snowdrops have long pedicels but the true magnet should have a pedicel that forms an arc with the snowdrop dangling at the end.  In Kristina's photographs the pedicel is upright until quite close to the flower so it isn't 'Magnet', however long the pedicel is. 

Alan, I wasn't saying that Kristina's snowdrop has a long pedicel, I was answering Rob's point about being able to identify Magnet by its long pedicel. I was trying to say that Kristina's photo doesn't have a long dangly pedicel and also has the wrong mark, and that you can't identify Magnet just by its long pedicel; it needs to also have the right mark. Exactly how the pedicel arches is sometimes quoted as an ID feature, but really you can always tell by the mark, which should be a much more narrow V shape than Galatea.

[Paul T]

Sorry, my comments earlier about the seedlings sold under the name were for 'S. Arnott', not 'Magnet'.  I was obviously having a senior moment and wasn't thinking straight.  Sorry.  'Magnet' is rarely seen here.

[Alan_b]

.....Exactly how the pedicel arches is sometimes quoted as an ID feature, but really you can always tell by the mark, which should be a much more narrow V shape than Galatea.

I'm sure you are right, Martin.  The context for my comment, which I should have made explicit, was that I had just come back from a woodland walk where I had seen many snowdrops with long pedicels but all of these were kinked, lacking the graceful arc that Magnet manages.  It is hard to tell from Kristina's photograph how long the pedicel actually is but the kink is what told me it was 'wrong'.  Also, if I were looking for Magnet from a distance, I would first look for the long arc of the pedicel then confirm the other features when I got up-close.  To me, the mark of a good snowdrop is that you should be able to see its main point of interest without having to get down on your hands and knees.

[Martin Baxendale]

You're right, Alan. We were obviously talking in different contexts. In the garden context, the most obvious and attractive feature of Magnet is indeed its very elegant, perfectly arching and kink-free pedicel and the mark is very much secondary. In the context of making a positive or negative ID for the botanical garden records, you really need to look as accurately as possible at all distinctive features.

Incidentally, there are various forms of "Magnet" around, not all of which are the original raised by James Allen but some of which also have the elegant arching pedicel, for example Benton Magnet (a smaller version) and Foxgrove Magnet. But of course there's no need to consider those problems when arriving at a negative ID for Kristina (although in the garden situation, the slight differences between these different "Magnets" can cause considerable problems!)

 

[Martin Baxendale]

Kristina, I'm afraid you're being thrown in the deep and murky end of the snowdrop world with your enquiries about IDs for the NBGW snowdrop collection.

It's not all so negative and obsessively nit-picking as it might seem from trying to ID snowdrops you're not sure about (especially those with single marks) and finding they're not all what you hoped they were. I just hope it's not putting you off them for life! 

[Martin Baxendale]

Oh, and then there are 'Little Magnet' and 'Wisley Magnet', which also share similarities with true 'Magnet' but...I hear the distant sounds of Maggi laughing and Kristina throwing in the towel.