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Re: [SG] Cimicifuga information

At 08:52 PM 6/20/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Gene, I hope you'll be able to get permission to share that article with
>us. In the meantime, I've looked in my Heronswood catalog. The proprietor
>of Heronswood, Dan Hinkley, is extremely knowledgeable about botany and I
>think I trust him. Hinkley offers for sale several species of cimicifugas,
>including biternata (Japan), laciniata (NW U.S.), racemosa and rubifolia
>(eastern US), and 3 different simplex (Asia)--the plain one, Atropurpurea,
>and 'Brunette'. No mention of "ramosa" whatever.

Bobbi, it seems to me that all the arguing about which is 'correct' is a
good example of what is happening all across horticulture. The taxonomists
can't agree on what species something is; people in the industry read and
study the information available, and then choose one of the varying
opinions. If this argument were to truly have merit, we would be discussing
leaf structure, flower structure, etc in our quest to correctly label the
plants. Many plants are not even mentioned in the reference books; as an
example, Hortus Third is particularly lacking in information about rock
garden plants and prairie plants that are more unusual. It is interesting
how much time we spend arguing/discussing what something is named and how
little time we spend talking about the plants....and I'm as guilty of it as
anyone else. What's really important to those of us that grow plants is
making sure we get the plant that we want, and that's where naming becomes
important. 'Brunette' is a gorgeous cultivar, whether it's a ramosa or a
simplex or a rubifolia. Many of the new cultivars in some genera are no
longer listed by species, because the parentage is not clearly known, or the
listing of the entire parentage would bankrupt nurseries. Hostas are a great
example.....where are the species names ....in many cases, they have been
discarded. Do we ask what species 'Aristocrat' or 'Pandora's Box is, or what
species were crossed to get those cultivars? We are satisfied to know which
cultivars were used in the cross. What species were crossed to produce
'Brunette'? Does anyone know?

On a different note, does anyone grow Diphylla cymosa? It's new this year,
and I'm wondering how large it will get. Jean Bawden
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