Viewing comments posted by arctangent

Disambiguation note: There is a second P. lactiflora cultivar named 'Lord Kitchener', breeder Renault, year of introduction 2016. There is an entry for both this 'Balliol', aka 'Lord Kitchener' by Kelway, and the 'Lord Kitchener' by Renault in the APS registry, but the Renault cultivar is not in the NGA database. In the APS registry, both are listed under 'Lord Kitchener'. Specimens of the Renault cultivar can be seen in the W.E. Upjohn Peony Garden in Ann Arbor (Beds 5 and 26). The Renault cultivar is a deep cherry pink double, unlike the crimson red single introduced by Kelway.

This cultivar and others of the same series of M. liliiflora 'Nigra' and M. stellata 'Rosea' crosses are late bloomers (said to bloom 2-4 weeks later that M. stellata and M. x soulangeana varieties). This makes them less prone to damage from late spring frosts than those types.

The breeder, Nate Bremer, has provided a rather complete parentage for this cultivar on its page in the APS registry. Named cultivars that contributed to recently preceding generations include Chinese Dragon and Zephyrus. Bremer also notes that he named it after the figure in Greek mythology, Charon, who was the ferryman for newly deceased souls, carrying them across the River Styx to Hades. Perhaps the name choice is a nod to one of the peony's parents, Zephyrus, god of the west wind in Greek mythology.

I couldn't find this peony registered with the APS, at least not under this name. It seems to be widely sold, and I did see an online ad for it for Home Depot which indicates the name is a trade mark, rather than a cultivar name. If that's the case, it might be registered under the cultivar name.

Disambiguation notice. If you search Burkhardt's peony database for 'Surprise', you'll find two entries. One is a tree peony from Lemoine, which I take to be the one meant by the person who proposed adding 'Surprise' to the NGA database, and the other is a herbaceous peony from Barr. The former is also in the APS registry, while the latter is not.

The common name, ant tree, refers to the mutually beneficial association between the tree and certain ant species. The tree's hollow trunk provides shelter for some types of Pseudomyrmex ants,while the ants provide protection from potential aggressors toward the tree by attacking them upon touch.

The CABI database page for this species provides more detailed information about growing conditions, and about the potential for the species to become naturalized. It propagates naturally via wind borne seeds. Although it is native to Central America, because it is grown as an ornamental tree, it now has a global distribution, and in several parts of the world (including parts of the Caribbean, South Africa, and northern Queensland, Australia), it has already become naturalized, with the potential of becoming invasive, and out-competing native plants.

What's in a name?
The name of this dahlia has always interested me. I first heard the name 'Suffolk Punch' as a child, reading about breeds of horses in one of the books my family mysteriously owned. We weren't horse people. Suffolk Punch is an English breed of heavy draft horse, or draught horse, as it is termed in the UK. 'Punch' is slang in the UK for a short, stout individual.
This dahlia was developed in the UK, but its appearance has little in common with the Suffolk PUnch horse, or horses in general. It isn't sorrel or chestnut in color, as characterizes the horse breed, but at a stretch you could say the plants are short and stout, I suppose. I finally decided the 'Punch' in the dahlia name could be a play on words, and refer to the blooms' reddish pink color, which is not unlike the color of many punch drinks.
Any thoughts?

Dahlia World lists the flower form as single, but as can be seen in photos in the database, some doubling (extra rows of petals) can occur. Personally, I think 'novelty open' (NO) is a more accurate description of the flower form.

Disambiguation:
The two flower forms currently listed for this entry, pompon and incurved cactus are seriously at odds with each other. All of the photos in the database are of a cactus type dahlia.

Data World lists five different cultivars with the name 'Purple Gem', viz.
Purple Gem I Pom Pu. 1941 Barwise UK ir0/cd13/nds42w/adsc02
Purple Gem II SBa Pu. <1938 Dahlia News38
Purple Gem III SC Pu. 1965 ir0
Purple Gem IV MinD Pu. 1958 gw
Purple Gem V SC Pu. <1957 kops NL ir0/cd34/ =kops purple

Dahlia Addict references only an incurved cactus form, which seems to agree with the photos in the database.

I conclude that the database photos match either Purple Gem III or Purple Gem V in the Dahlia World list, and probably Purple Gem III, the most recently introduced of the entries. However, the database Year introduced (1941), Country of Origin (UK), and Hybridizer (Barwise) entries refer to Purple Gem I in the Dahlia World list. Likewise, the ADS classification code is appropriate to the pompon version (Purple Gem I), not a semi-cactus or incurved cactus form. I hope someone on the administrative side sees this comment and cleans up the data for this entry.

Flower form for Bloomquist Tamara. Dahlia World gives the form as fimbriated. [Bloomquist Tamara M.Fim. R. 2009 bloomquist USA ads12]

My limited photo evidence of the blooms suggests that the petal tips are not significantly split or serrated, but the petals are very narrow, curled or twisted, and revolute through most, if not all, of their length. To my inexpert eye, the blooms appear more like a cactus type than anything else. I offer this observation with the caveat that dahlia blooms do not always behave true to their cultivar standards, either in form or color. The blooms I've seen might be anomalous.

The earliest blooms on the plants I saw at Dahlia Hill were not fully double, as they should have been for an 'informal decorative' designation. This caused me to doubt the plant label. However, blooms that were produced later in the same season did conform to the official description. I mention this as an aid to gardeners who might wonder whether they were sold the correct tubers when they see the first blooms on their plants.

Dahlias with flower forms, like Ebony Star, that are classed as novelty (NO or NX) typically aren't given size descriptors such as M, B, BB, etc. The blooms I've seen are about the size of a typical single form dahlia, i.e. about 4 inches across, somewhere between M and BB.

Disambiguation notice: The probable reason that two flower forms (single and waterlily) are listed for this cultivar is that, according to Dahlia World's list, there are two dahlias of this name.

One of them is a red single (China Doll I Sing R. 1990 takeuchi USA adsc02)

The other, which most closely matches the photo in the database is a waterlily (China Doll II SWL Pk.-Y.Bls <1994 swan island USA ads05).

I note, also, that this second form is a better match for photos I have taken at Dahlia Hill for a cultivar labeled 'China Doll', but which I have not yet uploaded to the database. They are a blend of pink and yellow, but are considerably darker overall than the photo currently on file, which is purportedly from the developer, Swan Island.

This cultivar belongs to the group of hybrids that are crosses between English yew (Taxus baccata) and Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata)

The American Conifer Society says this cultivar derives from a witches broom that was found in Pennsylvania by Gregg Gulden in the late 1990s.

The American Conifer Society describes the origin of the cultivar as being a color sport of the species, which was found in Japan in the late 1990s.

Disambiguation notice. There are two very similarly named Paphiopedilum grexes of different parentage, one described on this page (#1 below) and one which, though more recent, is not yet in the database (#2 below)
#1 Paphiopedilum Aladin (1936), Atlantis x Paphiopedilum delenatii
#2 Paphiopedilum Aladdin (2013), Hamana Samson x Hagrid
Because "Aladin" would be considered by many people to be a misspelling of "Aladdin", the possibility exists of specimens of P. Aladin having their labels inadvertently "corrected" to read P. Aladdin.

Trees of the genus Rhopalocarpus are endemic to Madagascar. Virtually nothing about the life cycle of Rhopalocarpus lucidus (deciduous vs. evergreen, flowers, fruits, etc.) is available online. It is said to have a forest habitat, to be widespread in Madagascar, and to be threatened by harvesting for firewood, rope and tool making. The genus name is from the Greek, meaning "club fruit", in reference to its shape.

Parentage, as listed by Orchid Roots, is Oncidesa Sweet Sugar × Gomesa Cloud Ears.

Orchid Roots gives the parentage of this grex as "Bratonia Cartagena × Oncidium Gledhow". Online references sometimes refer to it as Winter Wonderland 'White Fairy', and I have seen a specimen of it labeled this way at Matthaei Botanical Gardens. To my inexpert eye, blooms labeled simply Winter Wonderland, and those labeled Winter Wonderland 'White Fairy' look indistinguishable.