Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Galanthus => Topic started by: apothecary on February 19, 2008, 09:08:25 AM
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Check out what I have as 'Lady Elphinstone'! Isn't it gorgeous?
So much nicer than what I expected from the picture in the book! ;D
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Nice, but not a Galanthus of any sort.
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Lovely! What is it really?
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Leucojum vernum, perhaps?
Paddy
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No, it doesn't resemble a Leucojum. It's more like a Scilla although I'm not particularly good at bulbs in general. We're not actually supposed to have any cultivated plants in Springwoods apart from Galanthus.
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No, it doesn't resemble a Leucojum.
Well, it doesn't resemble a normal L. vernum anyway, but I've found a few suggestive Leucojum forms after a google search.
Whatever it is, it's pretty malformed.
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Perhaps a view of the whole plant may help?
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Good idea, I forget I have a privileged view.
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Oh sorry, I forgot to say, the background leaves are very definitely Galanthesk, only the leaf to the right belongs to this flower.
Any chance the Galanthus leaves could be the 'Lady Elphinstone' I was after in the first place? They seem short and late.
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The papery spathe reminds me of alliums for some reason. Lady E. is a nivalis, so they could be? I seem to remember tight clumps of double snowdrops refusing to flower but respond well to being divided. One of mine is flowering now in a trough but the others are still in tight bud in my west-facing border.
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Yes, that's what I think. It has the right petal shape with a slight rib down the middle and the flowers are quite translucent. Any idea of possible species? I wouldn't know one from another myself.
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Might it be an Ornithogalum?
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The papery spathe reminds me of alliums for some reason.
I agree with Anthony. The bracts definitely suggest Allium and I would go for Allium paradoxum. Try crushing the end of the leaf - and check whether it has a stong garlic smell.
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The bracts definitely suggest Allium and I would go for Allium paradoxum.
I do believe you're absolutely right. There isn't a very strong allium smell (or I would hope I'd have noticed it before ::)), but it is there and google image offers a significant number of pictures which perfectly resemble the flower.
Thanks for the help, maybe we'll add it to the collection.
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Thanks for the help, maybe we'll add it to the collection.
I'd do this cautiously. There are two forms of Allium paradoxum: var paradoxum which forms bulbils in the flower head and is an invasive pest; and var normale which does not form bulbils and is not invasive by bulbils although spreads itself around by seed. I think A var normale is quite an attractive thing, with the broad leaves and crystalline white flowers. A very knowledgeable authority once said to me, that if you found you had A paradoxum var paradoxum in your garden there was only one cure: "Move house".
Caveat emptor ...
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Dianne is right.I have the variety normale in my garden and I would'nt be without it but it does seed itself about.However I would never consider it invasive as it is easily controlled.This is a picture I took last year.