athyriums

Judith:

	Great discussion on selections of ferns.  I called Carol Randaci who
introduced A. f-f 'Dre's Dagger' to ask how it differed from A. f-f 'Victoriae
Her response is below:

    In answer to your question about Athyrium "Dre's Dagger" and A.
"Victoriae" here is our catalog entry describing the difference we found in
the garden.  (hopefully you will too) We grew the two together for over 5
years to be sure "D.D" remained stable.  It takes a few years for Victoriae
to grow to its full potential.  Our oldest "V's" are between 18-20 years
old now and have fronds measuring almost 24" from the ground.  "V" fronds
are almost 3" from pinnae tip to tip across, while "D.D." are only 11/2 -
2" wide.  So we picked "D.D." because of its smaller growth habit.

-Carol

	The International Code of Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants allow for new
cultivars to be named if they differ in one or more characteristics from
the parent.  Since the parent was not a clone, but would be the equivalent
of a seed-strain, a more dwarf form would certainly be acceptable to name.
Since Latinized names after 1959 are not acceptable, the new selection must
be given a name consisting of a word or words from a modern language...i.e.
'Dre's Dagger'.

	Regarding plants remaining stable from tissue culture, I'd like to make
two points.  Plants mutate both in tissue culture and in our gardens.  The
problem with tissue culture is that it is often difficult to see mutations
in the test tubes.  We have had many ferns tissue cultured which remained
completely identical to the parent.  Others, such as some of the Athyrium
f-f form sometimes vary slightly from tissue culture.  The problem is
primarily in the instability of the parent species.  The Athyium niponicum
'Apple Court' that we sent to tc have proven competely stable...so far.  

	Regarding other selections of A. niponicum, Athryium n. 'Ursula's Red'
never colored up for us as per the photos.  A. n. 'Burgundy Lace' does
color nicely as Judith mentioned.  For us A. n. 'Silver Falls' is quite
nice also.  As she stated, you would get some plants as good from a spore
batch, but the naming process has to start somewhere.  Now that we have a
standard for several color forms, we have a target to exceed with future
selections.

	A. 'Wildwood Twist' didn't have any sign of any other species in the
parent other than A. niponicum.  For us, there was also no sign of any
twisting.
Tony Avent
Plant Delights Nursery @
Juniper Level Botanic Garden
9241 Sauls Road
Raleigh, NC  27603  USA
Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F
Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F
USDA Hardiness Zone 7b
email tony@plantdelights.com
website  http://www.plantdel.com
phone 919 772-4794
fax  919 772-4752
"I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least
three times" - Avent

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