Leucojum valentinum (=Acis valentina)

[Juan Fornes]

   On October, I sent editor Anton Edwards an article on Leucojum valentinum. However, pictures I took had a too low resolution, so heīll wait next flowering season to get new higher resolution pics from me. So, here are some of them so you can see a "premier" of this east Spainīs endemic bulb.ope you like them!

[Gail]

Lovely pictures Juan - that second image in particular.  Muchas gracias!

[Juan Fornes]

   De nada! Thanks for reading! And L. valentinum has a lovely sweet, fresh scent too!

[johnw]

What lovely glistening petals.

Thanks Juan.

johnw - awaiting another Monday storm with up to 75mm of rain.

[Gail]

Juan -off-topic but can I ask about your dogs?  I have a Spanish friend here who works as a vet at the local greyhound stadium.  He said that there is a special breed of greyhounds in Spain ?Galgos?  Is that what yours are?

[Hoy]

Juan, a very pretty Leucojum! I've never seen it before. Is it hardy? I love to plant small bulbs in my garden hoping they will selfsow. I only have aesivum and vernum.

[Juan Fornes]

   Yes Gail: they are Galgo espaņol, Spanish greyhound. Standard size is more or less like an English greyhound. They are great dogs with a lovely behaviour, but here in my country they are mostly appreciated just as a "one season" hound dog. Then, they are left in the fields, or even tortured in such ways you wouldnīt like to imagine. Hunters have even ways of killing them depending of the fault they have done (bad runner, afraid os shootings, eating the hare instead of just killing them)... I can only tell you that figures speak by themselves: during year 2009, 115,879 abandoned dogs (not only greyhounds, of course) were taken by dog shelters. Awful. Iīm sure there are hunters who treat their dogs as they deserve, but I can tell you that there are too many people who donīt. My dogs come from two of these Dog Shelter places. The grey one (Gilda, the female) is now, after 3 years with us, a healthy, brave, loyal dog but when we took her she was almost afraid of everything, and when walking, if a person, specially a man,  crossed our way, she would just stood firm, trembling down untill he passed. Now you should see how she has changed. The male, the white one, is still recovering but has also changed his behaviour in these 2 years with us.
  A very hard and painful matter here, but not the only one, Iīm afraid. Bull fights, the tortured bull de la vega (Tordesillas)... I think I have an open mind and I accept almost everything, but these matters only makes me doubt of the quality of human nature.

[Juan Fornes]

  Hoy, I cannot tell you of the hardiness of this Leucojum but Iīm afraid it must not tolerate too cold temperatures. It grows almost at sea level in quite warm zones (zone 10 and 9), so maybe bulb will get too damaged if exposed to extra cold. Anyway, this is a rare endemic spanish plant, with a very reduced distribution range so I donīt think you could find it in nurseries. I didnīt even dare to unroot a bulb to take pictures of it for the study being afraid of damaging it, and seeds where sown beside the mother plant after pictures where taken, expecting better population next year...

[Hoy]

  Hoy, I cannot tell you of the hardiness of this Leucojum but Iīm afraid it must not tolerate too cold temperatures. It grows almost at sea level in quite warm zones (zone 10 and 9), so maybe bulb will get too damaged if exposed to extra cold. Anyway, this is a rare endemic spanish plant, with a very reduced distribution range so I donīt think you could find it in nurseries. I didnīt even dare to unroot a bulb to take pictures of it for the study being afraid of damaging it, and seeds where sown beside the mother plant after pictures where taken, expecting better population next year...

Thanks, Juan, I understand.
I can always dream of it - like so many other unobtainable plants!

[Ezeiza]

Thanks, Juan, for the great photos. And, the subject of stupid cruelty to harmless, defenceless animals is common around the world: the mania for pure breed dogs taken as puppies and abandoned as young ones is terrible.

We grow Leucojum/Acis valentinum as bulbs from Brian Mathew and Lady Skelmersdale since 1991. They have quite large bulbs, never offset and flower reliably each autumn. Flowers are lovely and seed is set. They oviously enjoy fierce sun and hot long summers. All behaviour exactly as Juan describes.

[Juan Fornes]

Hoy, would you like to try Urginea undulata subsp. caeculii? Though it comes from more or less the same places, maybe if you can provide important coverage in winter... Though flowers are not too showy, its wavy leaves well deserves a place. I have a bunch of wild collected seeds, as I arrived late to this yearīs seed exchange. If so, let me know. Picture  is from plants beggining their development in autum, so the wavy margin is not clearly seen yet.

[Hoy]

Hoy, would you like to try Urginea undulata subsp. caeculii? Though it comes from more or less the same places, maybe if you can provide important coverage in winter... Though flowers are not too showy, its wavy leaves well deserves a place. I have a bunch of wild collected seeds, as I arrived late to this yearīs seed exchange. If so, let me know. Picture  is from plants beggining their development in autum, so the wavy margin is not clearly seen yet.

yes, please. If you have spare seeds I would like to try some!

[Juan Fornes]

   Three more pics of Leucojum valentinum:
A and B) Flower close-up to show disc lobes.
C) Bud to show spathe

[Hoy]

   Three more pics of Leucojum valentinum:
A and B) Flower close-up to show disc lobes.
C) Bud to show spathe

This is really a gem, Juan!

[Juan Fornes]

This morning, after visiting our "Marjal de los Moros" and enjoying birds, I went to look for the plants of Leucojum valentinum to try to picture bulbs with complete leaves developing. And there they were (with some friends):
- Leaves of Leucojum valentinum (pic 1 and 2)
- Lavatera maritima (pic 3)
- Anagyris foetida (pic 4 and 5). This shrub loses leaves in summer, and flowers in winter and spring.
- Umbilicus sp. (pic 6)
- A very late (or very early) Clematis with a very distinctive green tinge (they are usually completely white) (pic 7)
- Rosmarinus officinalis were in full bloom everywhere (pic