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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Moraea tricolor (and color forms)

Several years ago the dean of Moraea-growers in the US, Bob Werra, gave me a pot of Moraea tricolor seedlings. He and I both expected them to all be pink, the standard color for that species, and the only color that either of us had ever seen in cultivation. Here's what the pink ones look like:



But to my surprise, when they started blooming, they came up in a wide variety of colors: orange, purple, mauve, and various intermediate shades.

Neither of us knows what happened. Bob thought they might be accidental hybrids, but I've tried some cross-breeding experiments with M. tricolor and some related species, and so far the results don't look at all like these flowers.

The other possibility is that these are unusual color forms of M. tricolor. Goldblatt's book The Moraeas of Southern Africa says they can come in shades of pink, yellow, and light purple; and South African bulb breeder Gordon Summerfield tells me they can have even stranger colors, such as green. So maybe Bob got a batch of seeds that happened to be in mixed colors.

If any Moraea experts have an opinion, I'd love to hear it.

In the meantime, I think they're beautiful, and I'm trying to build up stocks of each color so I can share them.



This bicolored one looks the most like some of my hybrids.





I love this bright orange one:


at 8:15 PM

3 comments:

  1. roseseekFebruary 19, 2014 at 2:55 PM

    I am enjoying your site immensely! You have some of the most beautiful Moreas I have ever seen. I live in Southern California and we have the traditional grandiflora, bicolor and a solid pale yellow bicolor. I would love trying some of the more colorful ones if they are as durable and water-wise as the other types so commonly available here. Your photos in this post remind me of the Pacific Coast Iris hybrids starting their blooms now. Just amazing! Thank you for your passion and for sharing it with others!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 20, 2014 at 10:14 AM

    Thanks for the nice comment!

    I think the plants you’re referring to are technically called Dietes. They’re related to the Moraeas, but Dietes grow all year, whereas the Moraeas go dormant for part of the year. Dietes are incredibly tough plants, and as a result they are grown in many parts of California in landscaping situations like parking lots.

    The Moraeas are even more water-wise than Dietes (because they are totally dormant in summer) but not as robust or useful in general-purpose landscaping. You'd use them the same as you would other summer-dormant bulbs.

    I’ve tried several times to cross Dietes and Moraea, with no luck. Darn.

    If you want to get some Moraeas, there’s a directory of commercial sources on the website of the Pacific Bulb Society. You can see it here: here.

    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  3. roseseekMarch 4, 2014 at 2:58 PM

    Hi Mike, you're welcome! I didn't see your response until today. Thank you for the link and the explanation. The two names are used interchangeably here in commerce. I will have to check out the link to the sources you provided. Thank you! Kim

    ReplyDelete

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