Pleione maculata lip markings

[JPB]

I notice a big difference in lip markings on my three different clones of P. maculata.
First photo is a "regular" type, while the 2nd has no yellow on the lip... Third fhoto is somewhere intermediate.
The 2nd and 3rd photographs are from clones from the collection of Michael Sexton...Also, the flowers are smaller than the clone on the 1st photo. It cold be that the smaller flowers where from Thailand as Cribb & Butterfield (1999) state that these clones "...appear to have consistently smaller flowers than those from India..."

Please note that some slugs visited the flowers (Grrr!!!!), but markings are clearly visible.

Can anyone comment on these differences. To my knowlegde, all current maculata's are descendants of once wild collected plants.
While I guess that exact collection-localities would give a great source of studying the intraspecific variation and biogeography of these plants, I'm afraid that little is documented. Still any thoughts are much welcome!

Cheers,
Hans

images from Photobucket no longer available

[JPB]

Thanks Rob, but I know they are clones. Not all species have the same amount of intraspecific variation. It depends on many factors; reproduction mode, vicariance, seed dispersal, gene flow, introgression etc. etc. I even doubt whether wild plants, as a rule, show more variation than plants of non-wild origin. Again, many factors. Botany is simple, once you understand its complexity....

Regards, Hans

[JPB]

No Rob, all clones had the purple stripes on the upper petals. But I have seen photo's of maculata's without it, though...