Moraea MM 12-118

Seed parent: Moraea villosa form a
Pollen parent: Moraea bellendenii

The parents:

MM 12-118a. Wow, what a cool surprise! When I made this cross I thought maybe I'd get something that looks like Moraea villosa, but with yellow tepals. Instead I got this very unusual color combination. Many Moraeas have a colored central cup, a black rim at the edge of the cup, and then a colored eye (see the photo of the seed parent above: orange cup, narrow black rim, blue eye). This hybrid has a dark center and two colored rings. I've never seen this bullseye pattern in a Moraea before, and I can't wait to try this same cross with other M. villosa color forms.

Unfortunately, this plant produces virtually no useful pollen -- the anthers are pitiful little withered things. But it does set seeds when pollinated.

MM 12-118b. Interesting. Instead of the double ring, this one looks a lot like M. villosa. The belendenii contributions appear to be a bit of a yellow overtone in parts of the flower, and the dark center. I'm not sure if these two photos are of the same clone, or two different ones. The second photo has a much more prominent light spot in the center of the eye, and a yellower center. It might be just an older flower of the same clone.

MM 12-118c. Very similar to form A, but the inner ring is light orange instead of yellow. Also, note that a narrow orange ray punches through the middle of the blue ring.

MM 12-118d. Similar to form A, but the tepals are almost fully white.

Here's a photo of forms A (top) and D together, so you can see the difference in tepal color.

MM 12-118e. Another villosa-like flower, but with an unusual pale blue eye and a peach-colored ring around it. I spent a long time staring at this one and wondering where to go next with this weird color combination (suggestions are welcome).