RE: Melanoselinum decipiens blooming

Title: RE: Melanoselinum decipiens blooming

David and others,

It is often (?usually) monocarpic, but not always. I had a plant in my parents' garden in England that flowered two years in succession before dying. It produced vast quantities of seed, and is easily raised from them. It was in a north-facing aspect and would take a few degrees of frost each winter, when the leaves turned dark purple.

I particularly like the banded "trunk" of this plant, the bands caused by the scars of fallen leaves, and the terminal crown of a few huge leaves. There is definitely something of Dr. Seuss's Truffula trees about it. You can age the plants with the scars: the sections of stem with denser scars represent semi-dormant periods and the widely spaced scars represent vigorous growth.

BTW, the plant is endemic to Madeira. The reports from the Azores are actually Angelica archangelica.

I have some digital pics of the plant flowering in England if anyone is interested; just drop me an e-mail (and advise the max Kb you prefer).

Best wishes,  Nick


Nick Turland
Missouri Botanical Garden
P.O. Box 299, Saint Louis, MO 63166-0299, U.S.A.
Tel.: +1 314 577 0269
Fax: +1 314 577 9438
n*@mobot.org
Web: http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/curators/turland.shtml
Flora of Crete Supplement:
http://www.marengo.supanet.com/text/fcs.htm

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