Re: CULT: Hermodactylus seeds

From: <HIPSource@aol.com>

Mary Forte asked,

<< Anyone have any advice about the best method for germinating  hermodactylus
 seeds?  >>

Hermodactylus tuberosus is a small bulbous iris of great charm and great
antiquity. It has been grown in gardens at least since the Renaissance and its
stange, fragrant, deep chartreuse and black blossoms are fascinating. It is
sometimes known as the "snake's head iris".

Mary, as we have discussed here on several occasions one often finds that
several methods work in germinating iris seeds, although some irises have
quite specific requirements. Others may have different suggestions for you.

I have mentioned the ideas of Dr. Norm Deno in Pennsylvania several times over
the life of this list and I don't think I need to do the full bells-and-
whistles again since anyone who is interested in this subject may check our
excellent Archives using Deno as the search term. I suggest you select the
Search All Archives option since Deno shows up on other lists as well.
http://www.mallorn.com/lists/

Now, Deno says that with his method of germinating seeds on moist paper towels
inside plastic bags followed by subjecting them to three month periods of hot
and cold, his seeds of Hermodactylus tuberosus germinated 25% in the sixth
week when kept in the dark at room temperature, followed by 25% more after
three weeks in cold when the bag was moved to the refrigerator after three
months. Seeds started in the refrigerator and moved to room conditions after
three months did not germinate for him.

One has no info on how many seeds Deno was working with here, or where he got
them, or where the mother plant was grown,  or what percentage were actually
viable, and he did not try all the permutations of his own variables,
presumptively since he got decent results with one method. 

The way I read it, they will probably germinate at room temperatures when kept
dark and will continue when moved to a refrig if started warm first, but a
straight stratification followed by warm up approach may not be effective. 

You might also call Park Seed and ask them. They offerred the things for
years, but they have gotten pretty crummy about giving any info on germination
requiremnts on the package. Here is an address: info@parkseed.com

Did I ever tell you, Mary, that my grandfather was a seed analyst? I got to go
to his office sometimes to look at all the petri dishes and and the vials full
of seeds that people were working on. Marked me for life.

Good luck! 

Anner Whitehead
Commercial Source Chairman
Historic Iris Preservation Society,AIS
HIPSource@aol.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help support ONElist, while generating interest in your product or
service. ONElist has a variety of advertising packages. Visit
http://www.onelist.com/advert.html for more information.
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index