Freesia laxa syn. Lapeirousia cruenta, Anomatheca laxa

>The Lapeirousia you mention (more correctly now L.laxa apparently) is
>common here but only in the small form, which is more hardy I gather
>than grandiflora, and I also have a similar white-flowered species with
>a red centre, which is perhaps even more prolific, but makes a good
>in-scale bulb for a dwarf border and is not obtrusive once it finishes
>flowering..(I did have a species name for this once, but seem to have
>lost it.) I definitely class both species as a friends rather than
>weeds.

Hi Moira and All,
                             Laperousia laxa is an error. It was Lapeirousia
cruenta, but was changed to Anomatheca laxa. It was again subsequently
changed in 1995 by Dr. Peter Goldblatt to Freesia laxa.

Further to this, and at my suggestion the species transferred from
Anomatheca to Freesia will now be given group status because of their
horticultural importance but this hasn't yet been published; so Freesia
laxa, Freesia grandiflora and Freesia viridis will form the Freesia
(Anomatheca Group).

Moira, I agree with you and I also agree with David regarding Freesia laxa,
the problem arises in the fact that it does set so much seed, and in the
garden it can flower from seed in just six months producing more seed.
In greenhouse conditions here in the 'sniffy' south-west of the UK it will
flower from seed in just 5 months.

The white Freesia laxa that has red spots will be either one of two hybrids;
the one called 'Joan Evans' (if anyone knows where the name originated
please respond) which is a hybrid between F. laxa and its white form; or a
similar hybrid, white and red spots, bred by Don Rix, Pine Heights Hippy’s,
Queensland, Oz and commonly referred to as Freesia laxa 'Rainbow Hybrids'.
This latter one is much shorter than 'Joan Evans' and has a more distinct
and compact panicle.

Quite a few of us here will grow either the white, the red, white with red,
the blue, or even the other and yes less hardy species; but there are others
and some of these are currently being bulked up in Holland, and they are
some of what I have bred (read on).

For a few years now I have been making comparrisons and parallels with my
own breeding of Freesia laxa and that of Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora in the
19th century by Victor Lemoine, both are very closely related.

Lemoine sold some 53 varieties of Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora between 1879
and 1900, which is a relatively high number to sell commercially in such a
short period. Many other hybrids would have also been produced but
disguarded for reasons of similarity or just not good enough. One question I
have always asked myself is HOW did he produce so many.

I am trying here to produce similar figures to Lemoine but with their close
relative Freesia laxa which of course hasn't been altered or played with too
much by horticulturalists, being a relative of Crocosmia, and seeding so
freely and quickly it has been an ideal subject.

Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora is a hybrid between Crocosmia pottsii and
Crocosmia aurea so any parallel would have to be drawn from the crossing of
both Freesia laxa and Freesia grandiflora. I am pleased to say that this
hybrid already exists in hort as Freesia 'Naticoke' syn. Lapeirousia
'Naticoke' however all attempts to find any history about this cross have
failed and the only thing I know about it is that it is an American hybrid,
it must also be very rare now for apart from those I've given it too I have
never ever seen it on anybodies list or mentioned in any book.

On selfing Freesia laxa varieties one sees very little variation indeed and
apart from crossing the red with the white to get the white with red spots
little of any significance has ever been produced. However some variety has
occured in laxa over the past five years and I am pleased to report the
following hybrids have been bred here. (A tiny number given the number of
crosses and amount of seed sown)

'Sunset Boulevard' a pink laxa, a cross between the red and the white
'Star of David' a self seeded dwarf garden form and probably the most hardy,
starry flowers.
'Pink Giant' a 2' 6'' pink flowered laxa, from open pollinated 'Sunset
Boulevard'

Other laxas include the Rainbow Hybrids, already mentioned, but one of these
a very pale pink with red spots is an exceptional form as it resists rain
and its flowers last longer than any other laxa hybrid; and yes I have it in
mind as a parent for many crosses. Pic on website see below for address.

I am glad to say that there is some early evidence that hybrids eg.
backcrosses of laxa x grandiflora will indeed produce a wider range of
colour in the genus. I produced a very new colour break this year which has
also given me seed which I am hoping will vary significantly as it was
crossed with 7 other hybrids. The new break I am calling 'Plum Scrumptious'
and it has basically white segments that colour up giving it strong lilac
tips, the centre spots are of a deep plum colour. A similar break has also
been reported in 19th century Crocosmia.

Picture of all these hybrids can be found on the 'bulb gallery' of my new
website The African Garden, which can be found at
http://members.tripod.co.uk/theafricangarden/index.html or indeed
www.theafricangarden.co.uk , a site dedicated to the bulbs I grow here and
pics of them.

I'm so glad we all know them as Freesia now as there has been and still is
much confusion.

Best Wishes,
                       Dave

Dave Fenwick (south-west of the UK with not a Hebe in sight, and it's still
raining, one dry day in 2 months)
http://members.tripod.co.uk/theafricangarden/index.html
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