In message , Stewart Robert Hinsley
writes
In article , Chris Boulby
writes
Sorry, but I simply had to start a new thread. The subject is the
correct spelling of diascias. Hope you'll allow the old thread to fade
away.

I am having enormous difficulty at the moment with species. As some of
you will know, they don't last forever, and taking cuttings of cuttings
of cuttings seems to weaken the plants. Some are fine, but others do
suffer. And it is awfully difficult to obtain seed from diascias except
in the wild because they have no natural pollinators in this country.
The very specialised oil collecting bee that pollinates them in South
Africa has very long forelegs that go deep into the spurs of the plant
and the pollen is deposited on their body. The stamens of the true
species are at different angles and thus the species are not cross
pollinated in the wild. Its quite fascinating actually, but it does
mean I cannot get seed very easily at all. So if anyone knows of wild
collected seed I would love to hear from you - I do get some from
Silverhills, but they don't go many of the habitats where some of the
rarer diascias hang out, and the species I once had are diminishing in
numbers despite my distribution tactics.
Chris Boulby National Collection of Diascias

Why can't you manually pollinate the plants to get seeds?

Thats a good question. I've tried but somehow they don't work on the
same plant or clones. I'd need another strain to have any hope of so
doing, and I've few plants where I have had different sources. Almost
all the material that I have was brought back by Hilliard & Burtt, two
botanists from Edinburgh who revised the genus in the 1980s. So, I'm
stuck. And the plants are a bit endangered in the wild now too, some
are on the red list in fact. I worry about this a lot.
--
Chris Boulby National Collection of Diascias
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