Subject: Calostemma purpurea
 
Emails on this topic from [AB_IMAGES] forum during January 
to March 2003
 
Mary Sue Ittner 2nd Jan 2003
msittner@mcn.org
 
Dear All,
 
I've been meaning to write about the article in the June 2002 issue of Australian Plants 
on Calostemma purpureum. Andrew Wilson first alerted me to it, but I get my copy on a 
very delayed basis and didn't get it until December. I don't think anyone mentioned it on 
the Australian list. It is a very interesting article written by someone named Robert 
Gibson and there are also some very nice colored pictures of different color forms and 
some blooming in mass when heavy rain in central New South Wales in February 2002 
triggered mass flowering of it in the same area with Crinum flaccidum.
 
Apparently they no longer consider there to be two species, (purpureum and luteum), 
but different color forms of one species, purpureum. The yellow form occurs in deep 
clays on floodplains and is larger. The purple form occurs on ridges and has a great 
range of flower coloration. Quoting, "The most common forms have either dark or mid 
purple tepals with a yellow corona marked basally by six maroon stripes. Rare variants 
on this theme include flowers with dark red tepals and an almost completely bright 
yellow corona, flowers with dark purple tepals, corona and filaments, flowers with 
yellow-edged purple tepals, large flowers with rose pink tepals and an almost fully 
yellow corona, and a locally common form with almost fully white flowers with diffuse 
purple pigment at the base. All share a decidedly spicy fragrance. The various colour 
forms typically form small  groups of plants with the same or very similar flower colour, 
with zones of mixing on their edges."
 
The article also has information about cultivation and propagation. It says that in dry 
conditions the plants become dormant and when the soil becomes moist there are new 
leaves and flowers. This makes me wonder whether flowering could occur more than 
once a year like with rain lilies. I had understood they flowered late summer, early fall.
Also it suggests that it should be considered a summer-growing bulb since it would 
probably only survive light frosts, but I've been growing mine on a Mediterranean cycle. 
Remembering our IBS discussion about this when Ken Kehl had "seeds", it says, "there 
is some debate as to whether the fruit contains seeds or juvenile clonal plants, or 
'bulbils.' At any rate these produce new plants readily and may begin root growth before 
the fruit has fallen."
 
The article suggests it is a good cut flower, lasting for two weeks. The yellow flowers 
have a sweeter scent and the purple ones more spicy.
Finally this, "The range in flower colours at sites in the local area strongly suggests that 
this species is reproducing sexually. It may be that in the absence of pollination, flowers 
are able to self-pollinate and yield plants of virtually identical flower colour. Controlled 
pollination experiments, possibly with genetic studies, will shed light on this biological 
aspect of the species. From this early stage it appears that there is much potential for 
selecting the most attractive colour forms from the wild and even developing new colour 
combinations."
 
Last year I got this neat URL from Hugh Mungus (one of Robert Parker's aliases):
 
http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/gnp7/callostemma-purpureum.html
 
He was kind enough to share some of his winnings from the IBS auction with me when 
he outbid me on some plants of Calostemma purpureum (purple form) that Michael 
Vassar had donated. He sent them in the green wrapped in a wet paper towel and I 
planted them right away without any setbacks I could see. I still have some yellow form 
plants from seed Murrary Cubis sent me a number of year ago when it was still possible 
to get seed from Australia without a phyto. But I haven't had any blooms yet on either 
lot.
 
Are any of you in Australia growing any of these wonderful color combinations or 
experimenting with them and if not, why not? Has anyone gotten them to bloom more 
than once a year? Are they summer-growing bulbs for you?
 
I know Lee has them since he offered seed to the BX and I know Joyce had some she 
got from Telos that bloomed and Ken since he told us about his seed and if Telos had 
them, Diana can surely weigh in as well.
 
Thanks in advance for any responses and Robert, I will copy this article and send it to 
you.
 
 
Reply from Paul Tyerman 3rd Jan 2003
 
Hi Mary Sue - Howdy All,
 
As requested by Rob Hamilton, here is a picture of Calostemma purpurea when it last 
flowered for me in Autumn. I also grow C. lutea given to me by a friend(although given 
the variety listed in Mary Sue's email I have no idea what the lutea actually indicates) 
but have never flowered it.
 
I have seen Calostemma listed by Murray Cubis and Dash, but I have occasionally found 
them on the mass production catalogues. Never seen any of the other colour combinations
 or even the lutea listed anywhere.
 
In response to the question of whether we grow the other colour combinations from 
Mary Sue....... I would if I could source them!!!! Some of those you listed sounded 
wonderful!!!! 
If I could get some of them I would happily grow them. Also, I have found that the 
frost has not bothered either my yellow or the purples. We get down to -8'C on 
occasions and they get no special protection. I thought that people may be interested
 in that. It may however account for why the yellow has not
 flowered? All mine are grown in pots, but I have plans this season to plant one 
of each out into an area that receives only natural rainfall and no artificial watering 
(although it probably WILL get occasional watering this summer as it is SO dry here 
at the moment).
 I hope this is all of some help.



 
 
 
Response from Paul Tyerman 14th March 2003
 
Howdy All,
 
Back in January we were discussing Calostemma and someone was talking about the fact 
that there were bicolour forms etc. At the time I expressed surprise at the range of colour 
that someone mentioned.
 
This morning I visited the National Botanic Gardens here in Canberra as someone told 
me recently that the Calostemmas were in full flower there. I toddled along this morning 
and nearly fell over when I saw some of the colours that they had there. I had deliberately
 taken my camera along as I thought that there might be some here who would be interested 
in seeing them.
 
One clump they had was creamy yellow and two different shades of bicoloured red/cream. I don't know what started out there but I'm hazarding that there were the red and cream 
and the yellow ones there, and the cream with red throat was a hybrid between the two. 
Another clump was the pink with the yellow throat, and further along the path was the 
dark red one (this one is the same as the one I have I think, although I think it may be a 
touch lighter in colour). There was even a white one in bud (or at least the buds looked 
pure white). 
All I can say is WOW!!!!! I think I'd have to say that the cream with red throat is my 
favourite. The red is not just in the centre, but at the base of each petal, making the flower 
creamy yellow with a red glow to the centre of it. Very pretty.
 
I hope these pictures are of interest to some of you. The colours were certainly an 
eye-opener for me. I have never seen any of these in commerce other than the dark 
one similar to my own. From memory the yellow that I have is actually a much solider 
yellow than the creamy-yellow that they have at the Botanical Gardens too. Fascinating 
stuff!!
 
Also, out of interest I sowed a few of the seeds of my own Calostemma last year 
and they seemed to do OK. They are like Nerines and Belladonnas in that they have 
a fleshy seed which sends out a radical when sitting on the surface of the ground. I sat the seeds on the surface and they sent down their radicals and eventually sent 
up some small leaves as well. Nothing above ground on them yet but that is to be 
expected. Does anyone know how long it takes Calostemmas to reach flowering size 
from seed? I'm just wondering how long my little dears from last year are going to 
take to get to maturity. Are they going to be helped along by a bit of bulb food or is 
that going to be a problem to them?
Best stop nattering on here. Hopefully someone can help with the questions, and at 
least someone enjoys the pics. I have 4 days of email to catch up on so lots to do.

 



 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reply from Paul Tyerman   15th March 2003
 
Jim,
 
I think I mentioned in the original email how they were arranged in separate clumps?
 There was yellow and the two red/cream bicolours growing together, the pinks in their 
own area, the white nearby, and the darker one separated by a little distance. I am 
assuming that the bicolors are probably from a yellow and a dark bicolour, which has 
produced the intermediary one. From talking to other people at times there are a few 
intermediaries that do occur in the wild, including the white, but I honestly have no idea 
of species versus cultivar. My understanding is that there was C. purpureum and 
C. luteum but the luteum has been sunk back into the purpureum as a colour form. 
Whether it stays that way of course is another thing.
One thing to note is that I have heard in the past that the seeds are apomictic in 
Calostemmas, which would mean that hybridisation is not easily possible. The 
colour gradients etc means that this really cannot be the case. It would appear 
that the very large clump of the pink and yellow ones (there must have been 30 
or more bulbs) would indicate that they are seeding true though. Apomictic seeding 
would mean that these were clones of the parent after chance hybridization, but if 
they are not apomictic then it means that a "cultivar" seeds true most of the time.... 
which I have seen as part of proof of species characteristics of a plant (i.e stability 
of offspring. These are just thoughts however, and I have no idea of the "facts" behind 
all this.
 
Re the Vegetative growth...... some definitely had dark bases to the foliage, while others 
didn't. I know that the yellows seemed to have pure green bases, but I did note particularly 
which of the "hybrids" had what sort of base. I will be heading back during the week this 
week so I will check that out for you and try to photograph some of the various clumps to 
give you an idea of how they are growing. They are much larger than I had realised, given 
that I have only seen them in pots up until now. The flower stems on many of them would 
have been over 2 foot tall. It is also worth noting that the yellow and all the hybrids seemed 
to have larger flowers than the dark red "basic" one that I already had. Obviously the size 
of the yellow is being imparted to the hybrids as well. Again, whether this helps identification 
of the separate species of luteum I don't know, just some ideas from my part.
 
Mary Sue,
Did we discuss these on the PBS list as well? I can't find any reference to it there when 
I just checked my saved messages, but I may have deleted them. I thought it was just the 
ABA list and the AB-Images list?
 
Anyhow, glad to see that people were interested enough to respond to the posting. I was 
really surprised by the colours forms of this so I'm glad others enjoyed it. Will take some 
piccies of leaf bases etc. Does anyone want any other pics taken of clumps/attributes while 
I am there during the week? I'm happy to do so but you need to let me know before I go 
there <grin>.
 
Cheers.
 
 
Reply from Julian Slade 15th March 2003
 
Dear Paul
 
Never before have I realised the colour variation in Calostemma. Wherever I have seen 
C. purpureum, nearly all plants had dark red flowers as shown in your photo, but with a 
paler tube. Only the occasional lighter pink form showed up, except for very rare instances 
of genuine albinos, which have pure white flowers and a pale green corona. The shape of the 
flowers did not vary at all.
 I recall reading somewhere that in the Hattah-Kulkyne region in the extreme north-west of 
Victoria, there exists more unusual colour variants, including a bronze form and a wonderful-
sounding white with pink stripes!
 I had thought that C. luteum could be distinguished, apart from having yellow flowers, in 
having stamens and style exserted from a more expanded flower.
 
Well done Paul.
 
Regards
 
Julian Slade
 
 
 
Reply from Paul Tyerman 15th march 2003


Julian,
 
This is pretty much what I had come up with in my original email.... the luteum was a
 distinctly larger flower and as can be seen in the pic, much more open than the dark 
red one. All those that were "mixed" colours were larger flowers than the basic 
purpurea and most exhibited a much more open appearance (the cream with red throat
 in particular was very much like a jonquil in many ways (but with a flower for more like 
a Eucharis in shape etc)). The pink seemed to be more tubular like the purpurea but was 
still much larger. I could obviously not pick flowers to compare sizes, but this week I might 
actually try to see if I can get permission to pick a floret of each to compare sizes..... it is 
doubtful I will get permission, but I can but try. 
 
Your comment about the inner part being comparatively longer is also true for all of those 
I observed that were not the dark red. The dark red had a relatively insignificant yellow 
internal, whereas the others were all much more prominent. To be honest I came home 
and checked out mine to see if they actually HAD a yellow piece inside as I had never 
noticed it, whereas it is obvious in all the coloured varieties I saw.
Glad you enjoyed the pics Julian.
 
Cheers.
 
Paul Tyerman
Canberra, Australia. USDA equivalent - Zone 8/9
mailto:ptyerman@ozemail.com.au
 
 
 
Response from Rob Hamilton - 15th march 2003
 
Hi Paul and others,
 
I am really excited to see this range of colours.
 Since the PBS discussion earlier in the year I have tried, almost in vain, 
to find a source for some different colours in Calostemma. This included 
net search after net search, then nurseries including Native specialists as 
well as SGAP members.
 I managed to find some Calostemma "aurea" bulbs which I hope are 
lutea- they are not up yet. The bulbs were a fairly typical bulb shape , 
not like the shapely , almost hourglass Calostemma purpurea bulb. If they 
turn out to be Calostemma lutea surely this shape difference adds to the 
arguements ( by Julian) that it is a distinct species.
 
Cheers,
 
Rob
 
 
 
Reply from Paul Tyerman 
 
Rob,
 
I purchased some Calostemma from a bulb seller a little while back and they 
varied from looking almost like a daffodil to the strange elongated almost hour
glass look that some of them have. Without careful checking you'd swear that 
they weren't even the same genus given how much difference in shape they 
were. I am assuming that they are all the same red colour as mine.
I seem to recall that in a previous email a while back you said that thecolour 
you have down in Tassie is different to the one I have here? Is my memory right? 
(it rarely is, but it is worth asking just in case it was <grin>). If it is different, 
what colour are yours?
 
Cheers.
 
Paul Tyerman
Canberra, Australia. USDA equivalent - Zone 8/9
mailto:ptyerman@ozemail.com.au
 
 
 
Response from Mary Sue Ittner 
 
Dear All,
 
I believe Dash may know Robert Gibson who wrote the article in Australian Plants 
about Calostemma. Maybe he would be a source for some of these beautiful plants. 
Gibson doesn't really say who decided they were variants, not separate species. He 
does have a reference to the Flora of New South Wales (Harden and Frischknecht), 
Vol. 4, page 107 if some of you have it and want to look it up. (1993)
 There are some very attractive ones in the Australian Plants article. There is just a 
tiny one of the white one, but it looks pretty too so Paul you'll have to go back or Lyn 
and take its picture too.
 Paul gave me permission to put his pictures on the PBS wiki so I have done that. 
Paul, edit it if you don't like what I said. I took it from the article and your posts.
 
http://www.ibiblio.org/pbs/pbswiki/index.php/Calostemma
 
Mary Sue
 

Reply from Daryl Geoghegan

Mary, Paul and Calostemma enthusiasts,

It is weird to say this but Robert told me that all the variants he saw were growing in
the same stand of bulbs. Not one separate from the other but all mixed in together.

Perhaps, just perhaps, every colour you can find is the one plant, Calostemma purpurea?

I do not have the horticultural or Botanical. training to tell the difference, I just love
the bulbs (simple I know but this is me)

Best wishes,

Dash.

Daryl (Dash) Geoghegan, 6 Elliot Road, Barnawartha, 3688, Victoria, Australia. Ph/Fax +61 02 6026 7377

 
 
Reply from Paul Tyerman
 
Howdy All,
 
I went back today to check out the sizes of the Calostemmas and compare them through 
photographing them with a 5 cent coin (so that there was a standard reference). The 
Creamy yellow and both bicolours (cream and red in varying amounts) were nearly the 
size of the 5c coin at the "mouth",with the pink being a big smaller, and the dark red being 
about half the size of the coin across. I have pictures of all that if anyone is interested but
 thought it probably was not worth posting directly to the list unless there was significant 
interest.
Re the bases of the foliage..... The leaves of all appeared to be green to the base, but the 
base of the scapes varied between colours. The creamy yellow an the bicolours all had 
green bases to the scapes. The dark red (which I assume is the "normal" purpurea) had 
rather dark bases to the scapes, and the pink had some dark to the base of the stems but
 not as much as the purpurea. I forgot to photograph the white but from memory it was 
green at the base. I have photographs of most of the bases as well, just for reference.
 
Cheers.
 
Paul Tyerman
Canberra, Australia. USDA equivalent - Zone 8/9
 
 
Response from Jim Lykos
 

Hi Mary  and  Paul,

I  did a bit of checking of Flora references today for information about changes to the status of  Calostemma species.  There are  brief treatments given to Calostemma in the Flora of NSW Vol 4, and  the  Flora of  Western NSW. Each only  reference their information to that  made in  'The Flora of Australia" Vol 45 1987, Hydatellaceae to Liliaceae, in the short write up by  Ian Telford pp 382-383 on Calostemma.
This particular Volume had 36 contributors - so expertise in  these plant families tended to be fairly narrowly based.

Ian Telford actually states that on page  382 that 'the two species are maintained here although they may represent colour variants of a single species.  Variation in the genus requires investigation.  The seeds are apparently bulbils as in Proiphys.....'

I havent found any evidence that the investigation  signaled in the  Volume 45,  has been carried out as there are no references to any other authority  or paper after this date.  In fact  other Flora's - that of South Australia and Central Australia have retained the  determination of two species.  A  really informative  article on Calostemma purpureum by Robert Gibson  in Vol 21, No. 171 (June 2002) of  'Australian Plants' ,  only references Flora of Australia  Vol 45,  and the Flora of NSW  Vol 4.

It is however instructive to read the descriptions given and research the geographical distributions of both species  in Vol 45 and the fresh field  information given by Robert Gibson and identify herbarium collections via the NAPI.  I believe both authors  provide sufficient reasons to really consider them as separate species. The really  fantastic  revelation provided by Robert Gibson is  the colour variations found  in the separate species and  the hybrid colour forms found in the few locations where  outlyer populations exist in close proximity.

Rob Hamilton and I  about a month ago  discussed the remakable differences in the bulbs of  C. luteum and C. purpureum that we grow,  which is like comparing a dumpy jonquil like bulb with another that has an  long elongated neck that extends to ground level and drops to the bottom of the pot (like and elongated pyramid).  Perhaps an appreciation of  their natural habitats may explain these adaptations.

Robert Gibson writes ..' Calostemma is endemic to eastern Australia, particularly within the Murray - Darling Basin, extending to the southern Mt Lofty ranges (South Aust) and scattered populations in central South Australia. For many decades the genus was treated as having two species: the yellow flowered Calostemma luteum primarily in the Darling River basin and the purple flowered C. purpureum in the southern and western part of the range. The former commonly occurs in deep clays on floodplains and is larger in almost all parts to the purple flowered form............The most widespread form has yellow  flowers and grows in heavy clay soils on the floodplains..........rare plants in the flood plains have diffuse purple pigmentation on the tepal exterior............
....purple flowered plants (purpureum) occur on ridges and commonly exhibit a great range in flower colouration....... The most common forms have either dark or mid purple tepals with a yellow corona marked basally by six maroon stripes...
Robert Gibson outlines the lovely colour variants found and  the colours of the  hybrid swarms  found  where both  the yellow and purple forms grow in close proximity.
In reading  this article and that of  Ian Telford, I am struck by the fact that we are taking about two distinctive geographical  races -  and  that the  investigation into the variation in the genus mentioned by Ian Telford has not yet been done.

The pictures  of colour forms found in the genus in Robert Gibsons article are simply astounding  and I  recommend that everyone interested in this genus in Australia read the article.

Cheers

Jim Lykos

Reply Paul Tyerman 23^rd march 2003

 
Howdy All,
 
A surprise this week for me as another pot of Calostemma purpurea sent up a scape 
of flowers recently and they have opened paler than the dark red "standard" one that 
I already had. These I assume I must have bought last year from a local bulb supplier 
and they must have had slightly different stock. I do not mind this at ALL. At first I 
thought that it was because they were in a different area and didn't get as much sun, 
but I moved them alongside where my other pots were a few days ago in the full sun,
 and the flowers have kept opening that same paler colour. The others in pots are all 
finished now, but I have one in the ground still flowering and I took the pot out and
 compared the flowers and these are very much lighter, being a dark pink almost, 
rather than the distinct dark red shade of the previous ones.
So I thought you all might like to see this colour as well, as there had been a fair bit 
of interest in the others. I have only this one flowering in this pot so I have no idea 
if it is the only one that is this lighter colour, or whether all in this pot are this colour. 
I think I will be carefully potting this up shortly, trying to disturb the roots as little as 
possible so that they get the depth they need to hopefully bring the others in the pot 
into flower next autumn.