The MGS Forum
Plants for mediterranean gardens => Bulbs (including other geophytes with corms, tubers, rhizomes etc) => Topic started by: Ina on February 14, 2012, 12:42:58 PM
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This Sunday we had a spell of good weather for a few hours and I decided to take a walk in the woods... I saw this lovely crocus there (well at least I hope it is a crocus...)
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Ina, It looks more like Romulea bulbocodium to me - a crocus-like Mediterranean bulb flowering now, and very variable in its colouring, from white with a yellow throat like this to (more commonly in Greece, I think) ones showing at least some purplish blue, either just towards the outer tips of the petals or almost all over. There is a completely yellow-flowered variety, too.
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Thank you Alisdair, probably you are right... the ones I saw in the forest didn't have any blues.
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It is a small group of species but poorly described. R. bulbocodium can be told apart readily by the large stigma arms protruding well above the anthers, like in the first photo.
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The handful of European romuleas can be tricky, and I'm not sure that they are very well known. The first picture below is I think Romulea linaresii, photographed in spring at about 1,000 metres up in Greece. The second I thought was R. bulbocodium, also in Greece, but as that is described as always having a yellow throat I'm a bit baffled: any suggestions?
Several dozen species grow in the "mediterranean" part of South Africa, and they are quite easy to grow from seed. The third picture shows Romulea eximia which I had planted out in the cultivated part of our Greek garden. It grew very well there, but eventually the "cultivation" (largely a mattock assault on all visible soil just before our visits, by our wonderful tower-of-strength Greek helper) destroyed it. So now the seed-raised South African and other bulbs all get planted out in our lower managed-wilderness part.
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Wonderfull pictures!!I think that there will be competition with the crocuses!!
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The first picture below is I think Romulea linaresii, photographed in spring at about 1,000 metres up in Greece. The second I thought was R. bulbocodium, also in Greece, but as that is described as always having a yellow throat I'm a bit baffled: any suggestions?
Alisdair,
It is definatly R. linaresii [subsp graeca] and R. bulbocodium. Not all forms have a yellow throat in particularly in the Eastern Mediteranean.
Ina's plant is Romulea bulbucodium var. leichtliniana which is a white form with prominent yellow throat.
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Thanks very much for that, Oron - where would we be without your encyclopaedic knowledge?!
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Another South African romulea, flowering today under glass in the UK. The MGS seed distribution has had seed of this species, which enjoys mediterranean conditions and seems happy in clay which may be very wet in winter but dries hard in summer. It is slightly fragrant.
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Exactly so, as this is one of the "aquatic" Romuleas.
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This plant, flowering under glass in the UK today, was grown from seed as Romulea obscura. I think it probably is. That species is quite variable both in flower colour (often pink or red rather than the yellow or apricot of these plants) and in flower size (usually bigger than these, which are barely bigger than a centimetre across).
It grows on sandy flats in the western cape of South Africa.
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These, opening on sunny days at the moment, were grown from seed (ex Jim and Jenny Archibald) as Romulea saldanhensis, which is a plant restricted to wet granitic flats on the west coast of South Africa. The flowers do have black lines inside (which is a characteristic of this species), but the black netting marks on the outside of the sepals of some of them (second picture, and not mentioned in my books) is so distinctive that it makes me wonder whether these are true, or whether they might be accidental hybrids.
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Another of the beautiful South African romuleas, Romulea tetragona grown from seed is flowering for me under glass in England, where it has a severe mediterranean regime of a long dry hot summer, and winter watering. In the wild it grows in stony clay in the north-west Cape, with (not much) winter rainfall and dry summers. It flowered last year for the first time, but I never saw it (the flowers open only on sunny days - and it throws up several in succession from a single bulb). Its narrow leaves are rather distinctive, having four winged ribs.
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Another beautiful flower and photo Alisdair! (nicely complementary background)
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Thanks, Mike! Those romuleas, when they are fully open, are almost impossible not to show well in a photo....
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In the western Algarve a couple of weeks ago we saw quite a few Romulea which I believe are probably R. bulbocodium. Despite the very heavy downpours they obviously can protect their flowers well.
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Nice picture, John. I think these purplish forms are much prettier than the white or near-white forms that one often sees (at least in Greece).
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Yes, I agree, and in all the years I have been visiting Crete I only ever saw one good purple form the rest in their thousands were white.
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Yes John, they are R. bulbocodium.
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Thanks Oron, it's easy to think the obvious only to find out later that there are other species in the area which it could be.
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This South African romulea grows in winter-rainfall areas, in places which can get pretty wet then. The picture was taken today (8 February), under glass in mediterranean conditions, here in the UK. A very cheering sight, as I ducked into the warm dry of the glasshouse to escape yet another of the downpours which show no sign of letting up!
I sowed the seed nearly two years ago and haven't yet moved the young bulbs out of their seed pot - I'll probably take them out to Greece now that I know they are true to name (the thin line of blue colour between the inner dark part and the main magenta part of the petals is a clincher).
The flowers are only about an inch across, and given sunnier skies their stems would be only about twice as tall as that, but here in these dismal days the stems are taller.
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This photo shows the first flowering of purchased Romulea tetragona bulbs in late Feb 2007. I regret the poor photography. There was clearly still a lot of landscaping to do, as well as learning a new camera.
However now 7 years later I am watching this Romulea closely. It threatens to be invasive as it spreads easily from seed. I am wondering if Romulea has a reputation as a Spreader, rather as some Oxalis do.
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Joanna, some romuleas do have the reputation of being spreaders, at least in some places. We haven't had any trouble yet with the few species I've taken out to Greece, but I suspect we may be a bit too dry for them to get out of hand.
I don't myself know of any problems with R. tetragona (the fact that it is easy to grow from seed has been a plus point for me!)
The one to avoid generally is Romulea rosea, or "onion grass", which is widely naturalised and has become a weed in lots of places.
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Another South African romulea:
R. flava grown from seed from the NZAGS Seedex a few years ago - in fact a self sown seedling of it is now in flower in another pot!
cheers
fermi
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Fermi, I echo Hilary's words. In this heat they are such a pleasure to view. I love the daintiness of the Narc.romieuxii and N."Mondieu' and how lovely the S.African Romulea looks. I have noticed a posting by Alisdair that Romulea diversiforms thrive in med. conditions. I will note it down and attempt to grow it in our Autumn. I have been experimenting propagating seeds in the Autumn and very early Spring and had more success in our conditions in the former.
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Hi Charithea,
There are many South African romuleas which do well in Med conditions - you just need to make sure they come from the "winter rainfall" side of the Cape! Try Silverhill Seeds in RSA for a wide variety.
Likewise for gladioli which also do well here. Here in southern Australia many species from South Africa can go feral and become real pests. However some are difficult to keep going without extra water so they are less likely to get out of control.
Most of the arable land around here is infested with a pink flowering Romulea - possibly R.rosea - it is simply everywhere!
cheers
fermi
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Hi Fermi, thank you for the useful info. I will make sure I get the correct seeds. I have had good results with seeds that I brought from Sparoza after the AGM last Autumn. I had put them direct in the ground as soon as we got back. I had beautiful Nigellas. There are Nigellas in Cyprus but not in our area. They grow wild in Paphos among the ruins. I bought many packets of seeds in England in March including Nigellas and put them in pots. As soon as the warm weather came they dried up. Out of approx. 300 seeds of Cosmas only 4 germinated and finally 3 matured and produced some flowers. I have noticed the last few years that seeds which are given to me here in Cyprus or the ones from Sparoza do well here. Cuttings from Fleur's garden taken in April prospered. In the period of 2 weeks they actually flowered and are still thriving despite the heat. I feel a proper gardener as I have managed to grow Ipomoea quamoclitand intend to share the seeds they produced with my friends.
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Try Chris and Rhoda McMasters in Sth Africa for seeds too. I've grown lots of good sm bulbs from them - and plenty of big ones too, esp. Haemanthus sp. in variety. We have had S-O-O-O much rain that Romulea sabulosa with 20 flower buds has hardly opened at all. I'm hoping for a few dry days to see what it does.
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Charithea, I find that timing is all important when sowing seeds in the ground and one is very much at the mercy of the weather. If you do not sow early enough so that the seedlings are sufficiently strong to stand any sudden increase in temperature they tend to shrivel up and give up the ghost very readily. I like to have Night Scented Stock close to our eating areas but often they fail miserably I have had a good year this year mainly due to more rain and lower than normal temperatures in our area I think - so always worth a try is my motto :)
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Trevor and Carole thank you very much for the information. I shall certainly take your advice. I will let you know next year about the results. Charithea
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Charithea,
This might be interesting for you, there are quite a few Mediterranean species as well;
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11434.0
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Great link, Oron, thanks - and nice to see your splendid new growing area there! Incidentally I had a chat with your AGS editor at the Chelsea Show, and he said that he was hoping your new book would be on their October list. Please keep us all informed!!!
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Thanks Alisdair,
Yes, I hope to see the book already, after few delays...
In the meantime, this is my new venture:
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=12097.msg309622#msg309622
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Thank you Oron. I have gone to both links. Both fascinating. Congratulations and best wishes on your new venture. We have to check whether we can import the seeds and bulbs. We shall have a discussion with Yiannos.
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I've already put in my order! ;D
Here's Romulea sabulosa - I have to grow it in a tray of water to get the best flowering,
cheers
fermi
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More romulea are in bloom - we even had enough sun for them to open!
Romulea hirta (not sure of the ID as it came as something else),
Romulea flava, a volunteer which came up in a crocus pot - not sure how as the only other R. flava we grow has "white" flowers - actually pale lemon with a yellow centre;
One of the Mediterranean ones, Romulea hartungii (syn Romulea columnae ssp grandiscapa)
cheers
fermi
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Fermi, do you know the African Bulbs group on Facebook? You can find it at
www.facebook.com/groups/142658152594313/
I'm sure you'd get a firm ID for that interesting Romulea that you've tentatively put down as hirta! I wonder if it's a son-of-hirta, pollinated by another species, or vice versa!
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Hi Alisdair,
I'm not on FB - my partner thinks I spent too much time on the computer as it is ;D
cheers
fermi
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That's the right answer, Fermi - it's far too interesting, you'd get hooked in no time!
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A better pic of Romulea hartungii (syn R. grandiscapa)
cheers
fermi
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Romulea tetragona has distinctively ridged foliage and a bright flower
cheers
fermi
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Romulea hartungii (syn Romulea grandiscapa) obviously seeded itself into a couple of other pots. It's living dangerously because out of flower it looks a lot like the weedy Romulea rosea and I'd nearly removed them!
One of these volunteers is a lot taller and a paler mauve than the others and I wonder if it is the same species.
cheers
fermi
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Some of the photos of Romulea columnae (grandiscapa is thought to be a subspecies of columnae) show it as being sometimes rather like your tall one, Fermi, so maybe it is just part of that same group. I'm going with the MGS Canaries trip to Tenerife next Feb, so if we're lucky maybe we'll see it!
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Hi Alisdair,
The taller one had been growing in more shade so it could simply be a difference in cultivation.
One of our local AGS Victorian Group members went to the Canaries last year and will be presenting a talk next month - but he was there in April/May so I don't think he would've seen it
cheers
fermi
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Romulea flava - white and yellow forms
Romulea sabulosa
Romulea hartungii (syn R. columnae v grandiscapa)
Romulea hartungii and Romulea tetragona
Romulea tetragona
cheers
fermi