Moraea MM 11-37

Seed parent: MM 03-04a (aristata X calcicola)
Pollen parent: MM 99-00a (atropunctata X neopavonia)

This is the offspring of a pale purple flower and a mid-orange one, both of which have dark centers. All of the plants to bloom so far are pretty boring-looking, with off-white tepals and dark centers. But look a bit closer: in a couple of flowers there's a faint white ring around the center, which is interesting. And some of the flowers have yellow-orange on the small inner tepals. Moraea plants usually have similar colors on the inner and outer tepals, so I like the possibility of breeding plants that have contrasting colors.

For similar crosses, see MM 11-30.


MM 11-37a. There's a faint hint of a white ring around the eyes, and some orange in the center. But otherwise this one is fairly uninteresting to me.

MM 11-37b. Similar to form a, but the eye is less distinct and there's a bit more orange in the middle.

MM 11-37c. The center looks more yellow than orange in this one. MM 99-00 seems to carry a yellow gene in it somewhere; it shows up from time to time in hybrids.

MM 11-37d. To me, this is the most promising of the four. The white ring is a bit more prominent, and the orange color extends all the way out to the ends of the inner tepals. If the eye was lighter and the outer tepals darker, we'd have something interesting...