Re: Amaryllis belladonna

John:

Thanks for all this great information.  I appreciate
the bit of research effort on your part.

It appears Mark Griffiths (editor of "Index of Garden
Plants") and John Bryan (American consulting editor of
"Manual of Bulbs", an expansion of the bulb listings
of "Index of Garden Plants") need to update their
information.

Although I think that some of the named selections
that they list under the species Amaryllis belladonna
may in fact be just that, I am sure, after reading
your various recommended sites, that most of the
selections listed are accurately placed as various
levels of xAmarygia hybrids.

Coincidently, while at a trade show in Dallas this
last weekend, I ran into my old friend Dan Davids (of
Davids & Royston Bulb Co.).  He told me of a fellow in
the Bay Area by the name of Harold or Howard or some
such who grows and hybridizes Amaryllis (xAmarygia). 
This fellow evidently sells some of these bulbs to
some local wholesalers.  Although the name isn't
exactly right, could it be Dan Davids is talking about
Les Hannibal?  Or is there someone else up in the Bay
Area doing such work?

Joe
Santa Maria, California
--- John MacGregor <jonivy@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Pam, Joe, all,
> 
> The fancy cultivar selections so often identified or
> marketed as Amaryllis
> belladonna L. are actually hybrids between that
> species and a member of the
> closely-related South African genus
> Brunsvigia--particularly B. josephinae
> (Red.) Ker-Gawl.  The original cross was made in
> 1841 by J. C. Bidwell at
> the Sydney Botanical Garden, Australia, and first
> introduces as Amaryllis
> multiflora.  Subsequent crosses developed from this
> original hybrid became
> the "Multiflora Strain."  A second cross was made at
> the MacArthur estate in
> Camden Park, N.S.W. where Bidwill later took charge
> of the Arboretum. He was
> showing MacArthur's daughters how to hybridize
> Amaryllis belladonna. One of
> the daughters became Lady Parker and her bulbs were
> called Amaryllis parkeri
> (syn. Brunsvigio-donna tubergeni hort.).
> 
> A similar cross was made by van Tubergen at the
> Zwanenburg Nursery in
> Holland in 1892, but it took as long as 16 years
> before the first flower
> appeared. The trumpet-shaped flowers of this hybrid
> are deep carmine-pink
> with yellowish-white base, 12-16 carried in an
> umbel. Ht. 40-60 cm.  It was
> called Brunsvigio-donna tubergeni hort.
> 
> By backcrossing these early hybrids and
> intercrossing their progeny, various
> persons at various locations have developed strains
> with broader petals and
> more open flowers in many different colors, from
> wine-reds through all
> shades of pink to white--with or without gold or
> yellow in the throat.
> These hybrids are generally a little less cold-hardy
> than Amaryllis
> balladonna, but otherwise require similar
> cultivation.  They are correctly
> classified in the nothogenus XAmarygia as XAmarygia
> parkeri (W.Wats.)
> H.E.Moore.  The pure white form is XAmarygia parkeri
> 'Alba'.  A white
> selection with a yellow throat is known as 'Haythor'
> (n.b. this is the
> correct spelling!) A selection of these hybrids can
> be seen at:
> 
>
http://www.bulbsociety.org/GALLERY_OF_THE_WORLDS_BULBS/GRAPHICS/Amarygia/AMA
> RYGIALIST.html
> 
> 'Haythor' is pictured (as 'Hathor') at:
> 
> http://www.bulbmania.com/how2grow00.html
> 
> This and several unnamed hybrids are available from
> Bulbmaina.  Their home
> page is at:
> 
> http://www.bulbmania.com/
> 
> A more extensive discussion of this course of
> development by Les Hannibal,
> the leading hybridizer of this group, is at:
> 
>
http://www.i5ive.com/discussion.cfm/alpines_and_bulbs/21930/latest/8
> 
> In California, some of these hybrids are available
> through Suncrest
> Nurseries (wholesale only).  See:
> 
>
http://www.suncrestnurseries.com/descript/amarygia.html#Amaryg
> 
> Their home page is at:
> 
> http://www.suncrestnurseries.com/
> 
> 
> John MacGregor
> jonivy@earthlink.net
> 


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