Re: Aristea ecknonii

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Hi, Mark,

 

I don't know why claim that Aristea is closely related to Sisyrinchium.  They are not very close at all; indeed, they are in separate subfamilies.  Most enthusiasts accept Goldblatt and Manning as current authorities on the Iridaceae.  They put Aristea by itself in Aristeoideae and Sisyrinchium with many other genera in the Iridoideae.  The leaves of Blue-eyed grass (possibly all Sisyrinchium) are plane; those of Aristea are not.  The flowers and the flowering structure are different when examined closely.

 

So far as culture, I have always kept my plant in the sun, and it seems to enjoy that.  It does want a good deal of water.  I usually add small amount of fertilizer to the daily water rather than fertilize periodically.  I keep my plant in a pot, but it keeps increasing, so I keep moving it to a bigger pot.  Each time I move it to a more spacious pot, it rewards me by throwing up a huge array of scapes and covering itself with flowers.  When not indulging in excess, it will usually have several scapes at a time in bloom throughout the year, except for a couple of months in the winter.  The flowers all seem to produce seed, and if I don't collect it, the seeds will fall to the ground, germinate, and start new plants growing in the ground around the pot.

 

This may sound unbelievable, but my plant was originally purchased about 5 years ago in a 4" pot; it is now in an 18" tub, and it will need repotting next year.  I have grown some plants for friends from my own seed.  They reach flowering size in just two years.

 

I don't know what the preferred time for repotting is -- I do it in early spring.  It's a rhizomatous plant, so one of the things I do when repotting, is to break apart the rhizomes so they have more space.  I try to do this without compromising the roots too much.

 

David E.