Help

Hi Folks,

I am writing a piece about N cyclamineus, the mind has gone blank and none of my books has the info that I need. Please help.

I know that the species is found in Spain and Portugal, one location more recently. I know that one has lovely smooth form and the other is very crenate and probably less useful for breeding. Please give me the names of the two locations and which form is found where. The article is for the NZNDS Annual and I have come to some interesting conclusions which may well be debated and even debunked. Or maybe I will lead you to think about something that you hadn’t yet considered.

Thanks,

Dave

5 comments for “Help

  1. David,

    The first form grows near Santiago de Compostella, the second in the Sierra Caramuelis.

    Theo

  2. Dave,

    What I like to call the ‘tradirional’ form of N. cyc. as first depicted and imported by Peter Barr came from the Opopto area of Portugal.

    For a long tome it was considered almost extinct in the wild except, perhaps in some private parks. This traditional form has a distinctly lobed, flanged and usually 18 toothed

    corona (each lobe has 3 teeth). It was E.A. Bowles who observed this regularity that I have often enjoyed confirming – though it is not an infallible characteristic.

    The other form of N. cyc. has a mostly ‘stove-pipe corona with either an entire rim or very mild toothing. This is found In Galicia, the little bit of Spain just north of Portugal.

    As with many species the different forms evolve gradually to the extremes and we found intermediate forms at a population just about on the border between Portugal and Galicia.

    I’ll try to send pictures.

    Brian

  3. Theo and Brian,

    You wonderful people answering so promptly and with great info.

    To check for accuracy

    The Spanish form we would call the Galician form

    The crenate Portugese form we would call the ? form

    Interesting Brian that I have the two distinct forms in my patch with different characteristics and flowering times within each form. Of the stove pipe form the earliest flowering would be less than 10mm long and the six week later ones are too big for a miniature. The splitters could have a field day here.

  4. Dave,

    There is no definable difference in the size of the forms. Because of the graduation in form from traditional to Galician I do not like to define as Portugese or Spanish though that might be almost the case. If your flowers are so much bigger then I think you have hybrids – of which many exist in gardens – if not in then wild. I’ve never seen a cyc. hybrid in the wild though I’ve searched for the reputed N. x caramulensis (N. cyc. x N. bulbocodium) at Alcofra in the Sierra de Caramula, west of Lisbon. I found both parents!

    Brian

  5. Interesting comment Brian. The late Betty Clark, Alpine specialist, always claimed that my N cyclamineus was a hybrid because it multiplied by bulb and grew in a dry, though shaded position.  I am open to that theory except that my bulbs set seed readily, a characteristic not common in F1 species hybrids.

    This has been an interesting discussion which confirms two distinct forms of N cyclamineus but which disputes size and height variations within each one.

    For my article I will talk about Galician form and Traditional form.

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