In article , Bob Hobden
writes
Was it Mr Ian Butterworth? He seems to be the UK expert.


Yes it was Bob, but they didn't all sound as easy as you find them
--
Janet Tweedy

In article , David Hill
writes
Come on people, it's totally wrong for a Hyacinth, it has 3 crowns, the
flowers are starting from ground level and the individual flowers are
the wrong shape, you might as well say it is a mutated daffodil.
As for it being in the Orchid family, balderdash, again the flowers are
totally the wrong shape.

I ruled out hyacinth because the flower stalk seems to come from under
the surface, don't know enough about orchids to hazard a guess at them,
just thought though that the photo was vaguely reminiscent of pleione.

Haw frost here this morning, a bit chilly as well!
--
Janet Tweedy

On 01/12/2012 10:33, David Hill wrote:
On 01/12/2012 10:17, Sacha wrote:
On 2012-11-30 22:52:29 +0000, "Charlie Pridham"
said:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2012-11-30 16:58:56 +0000, Janet Tweedy said:

In article , jim west
writes
Grateful for any identification. See tiny pic website for photo

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2ajynnr&s=6

Any any advice on how to care for them. Thanks.


I might well be wrong but if it's not an orchid then I would have
said Pleione, as the flower stems come the ground rather than form
on stalks.
They are REALLY tricky and very expensive and have to have special
compost etc.

It's almost like a mini Beschorneria!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/

I thought it looked like a very poorly hyacinth!!

But are the leaves right, even for a poorly one? It could be a sort of
witch's broom one, I suppose!

Come on people, it's totally wrong for a Hyacinth, it has 3 crowns, the
flowers are starting from ground level and the individual flowers are
the wrong shape, you might as well say it is a mutated daffodil.
As for it being in the Orchid family, balderdash, again the flowers are
totally the wrong shape.



Zooming in to the base of the plant, just at gravel level, is a growth
rather like a rhizome. Does that jog any memories?

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

"Janet Tweedy" wrote ...

Bob Hobden writes
Was it Mr Ian Butterworth? He seems to be the UK expert.


Yes it was Bob, but they didn't all sound as easy as you find them

Well having grown the species P formosana for many years and finally got the
hang of it it was him I went to see to buy some hybrids. I told him I
intended to grow them outside and he was very dubious although he did
mention they are usually grown by growers of alpines but sold me a number
that he thought might just be tough enough. I've seen him a couple of times
since and told him they have grown well. The only two I've had a problem
with are Eiger which is very early into flower and I repotted it late, after
Christmas, they can't take root disturbance at all when growing. Also
Shantung which does not appear to have liked the last two bad winters.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

Come on people, it's totally wrong for a Hyacinth, it has 3 crowns, the
flowers are starting from ground level and the individual flowers are
the wrong shape, you might as well say it is a mutated daffodil.
As for it being in the Orchid family, balderdash, again the flowers are
totally the wrong shape.



Zooming in to the base of the plant, just at gravel level, is a growth
rather like a rhizome. Does that jog any memories?

That's why I posted a pic early in this thread, but it seems to have
gone walkabout this pic. is of one of mine as they were when we came
back from China,
http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/f...nghaiPlant.jpg

now
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...chinaplant.jpg
This pot was hit hard for offspring earlier this year the other pot is
very full and in need of dividing.
I think it's a Liriope of some form.
David @ the dry but threatening end of Swansea Bay

On 01/12/2012 14:41, David Hill wrote:

Come on people, it's totally wrong for a Hyacinth, it has 3 crowns, the
flowers are starting from ground level and the individual flowers are
the wrong shape, you might as well say it is a mutated daffodil.
As for it being in the Orchid family, balderdash, again the flowers are
totally the wrong shape.



Zooming in to the base of the plant, just at gravel level, is a growth
rather like a rhizome. Does that jog any memories?

That's why I posted a pic early in this thread, but it seems to have
gone walkabout this pic. is of one of mine as they were when we came
back from China,
http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/f...nghaiPlant.jpg


now
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...chinaplant.jpg
This pot was hit hard for offspring earlier this year the other pot is
very full and in need of dividing.
I think it's a Liriope of some form.
David @ the dry but threatening end of Swansea Bay



Thanks, David, seen it now. That's very like it, as you say.
Liriope koreana and L.spicata f. koreana are the most like it, but
images are very variable.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

On 01/12/2012 16:50, Spider wrote:
On 01/12/2012 14:41, David Hill wrote:

Come on people, it's totally wrong for a Hyacinth, it has 3 crowns, the
flowers are starting from ground level and the individual flowers are
the wrong shape, you might as well say it is a mutated daffodil.
As for it being in the Orchid family, balderdash, again the flowers are
totally the wrong shape.



Zooming in to the base of the plant, just at gravel level, is a growth
rather like a rhizome. Does that jog any memories?

That's why I posted a pic early in this thread, but it seems to have
gone walkabout this pic. is of one of mine as they were when we came
back from China,
http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/f...nghaiPlant.jpg



now
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...chinaplant.jpg

This pot was hit hard for offspring earlier this year the other pot is
very full and in need of dividing.
I think it's a Liriope of some form.
David @ the dry but threatening end of Swansea Bay



Thanks, David, seen it now. That's very like it, as you say.
Liriope koreana and L.spicata f. koreana are the most like it, but
images are very variable.

Mine4 came from a large bed of them growing under young trees, could
have been birch, so partial shade, Shanghai has quite cold spells in
winter so they are hardy.
I saw a few different forms growing in Shanghai and Hong Kong but
couldn't get offshoots of them (Pity)

Spiranthes is an orchid, so that's another non-starter!

On 01/12/2012 10:56, Sacha wrote:
On 2012-12-01 10:33:47 +0000, David Hill said:
snip

Come on people, it's totally wrong for a Hyacinth, it has 3 crowns, the
flowers are starting from ground level and the individual flowers are
the wrong shape, you might as well say it is a mutated daffodil.
As for it being in the Orchid family, balderdash, again the flowers are
totally the wrong shape.

After a bit of digging around without much success, I'm wondering if
it's some type of Spiranthes or something related to it? Actually, it
would be helpful to know where the donor has been on holiday!

Agreed - we need some info as to the possible source country. It looks
as though it could be South African (eg Lachenalia), although they don't
tend to flower down to ground level. I also wondered about it being a
Reineckia, but the leaves don't seem right.

--

Jeff

Well, I'd have said very dissimilar! Spiranthes has the typical orchid shaped flower (like a Cymbidium in miniature), totally unlike the individual flowers on this, and as the name suggests, the flowers run down the stem in a very striking spiral. One of the striking things on the image is the stamens, and orchids in general don't have stamens - they put the pollen in little packages on the upper part of the flower.

I hadn't realised there were Spiranthes in any colour than white (the UK and Europe ones are white), but this page has a picture of a pink flowered species, and shows what I mean by the striking spiral. It also shows the orchid-ness of the flower very clearly.

Terrestrial orchids - Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust - Sydney, Australia

Liriope looks superficially similar *including things like the coloured stem), but none of the pictures I've seen have the flowers as open as that, and I don't know the plant well enough.

In message , Sacha
writes
On 2012-12-01 10:33:47 +0000, David Hill said:

On 01/12/2012 10:17, Sacha wrote:
On 2012-11-30 22:52:29 +0000, "Charlie Pridham"
said:

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2012-11-30 16:58:56 +0000, Janet Tweedy said:

In article , jim west
writes
Grateful for any identification. See tiny pic website for photo
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2ajynnr&s=6
Any any advice on how to care for them. Thanks.
I might well be wrong but if it's not an orchid then I would

said Pleione, as the flower stems come the ground rather than form
on stalks.
They are REALLY tricky and very expensive and have to have special
compost etc.
It's almost like a mini Beschorneria!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/
I thought it looked like a very poorly hyacinth!!
But are the leaves right, even for a poorly one? It could be a sort

witch's broom one, I suppose!
Come on people, it's totally wrong for a Hyacinth, it has 3 crowns,
the flowers are starting from ground level and the individual flowers
are the wrong shape, you might as well say it is a mutated daffodil.
As for it being in the Orchid family, balderdash, again the flowers
are totally the wrong shape.

How about squill of some type? Grasping at thin air...!

The problem is the long stamens. That would seem to be a problem with an
identification as Liriope as well.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

In message , jim west
writes
Was given a couple of these plants recently without the chance to find out
what they were or how to look after them.

They were placed in water in a vase when given to me. I've now put one in a
pot with soil and kept the other in water in case i'm doing the wrong thing.

Grateful for any identification. See tiny pic website for photo

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2ajynnr&s=6

Any any advice on how to care for them. Thanks.

As you've probably noticed you're defeating the collective wisdom of the
group.

So, could you provide more information.

Since you indicate that you've seen it, what does the below ground
portion of the plant look like? Is a bulb? a tuber? a bundle of roots?

What does the flower look like from the front? How many tepals? How many
stamens? How many styles and stigmas?

--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

"Stewart Robert Hinsley" wrote in message
...
In message , jim west
writes
Was given a couple of these plants recently without the chance to find out
what they were or how to look after them.

They were placed in water in a vase when given to me. I've now put one in
a
pot with soil and kept the other in water in case i'm doing the wrong
thing.

Grateful for any identification. See tiny pic website for photo

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2ajynnr&s=6

Any any advice on how to care for them. Thanks.

As you've probably noticed you're defeating the collective wisdom of the
group.

So, could you provide more information.

Since you indicate that you've seen it, what does the below ground portion
of the plant look like? Is a bulb? a tuber? a bundle of roots?

What does the flower look like from the front? How many tepals? How many
stamens? How many styles and stigmas?

--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

================================================== ===========================

Thanks for all your efforts. I'm now nervous about keeping this plant in my
care in case i do the wrong thing looking after it and have now handed it to
my cousin since she is really good with plants and will sense more than
anything on what action to take.

Here is a tinypic photo showing the roots. Hope this helps. Thanks.

http://tinypic.com/r/w9vdya/6

In message , Tim west
writes

"Stewart Robert Hinsley" wrote in message
...
In message , jim west
writes
Was given a couple of these plants recently without the chance to find out
what they were or how to look after them.

They were placed in water in a vase when given to me. I've now put one in
a
pot with soil and kept the other in water in case i'm doing the wrong
thing.

Grateful for any identification. See tiny pic website for photo

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2ajynnr&s=6

Any any advice on how to care for them. Thanks.

As you've probably noticed you're defeating the collective wisdom of the
group.

So, could you provide more information.

Since you indicate that you've seen it, what does the below ground portion
of the plant look like? Is a bulb? a tuber? a bundle of roots?

What does the flower look like from the front? How many tepals? How many
stamens? How many styles and stigmas?

--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

================================================= ============================

Thanks for all your efforts. I'm now nervous about keeping this plant in my
care in case i do the wrong thing looking after it and have now handed it to
my cousin since she is really good with plants and will sense more than
anything on what action to take.

Here is a tinypic photo showing the roots. Hope this helps. Thanks.

http://tinypic.com/r/w9vdya/6

That cuts out all the identifications as various types of bulbous
plants, but none of them seemed to have any significant support anyway.

The ideas so far have all been petaloid (lilioid) monocots; I've been
wondering if it was some type of commelinid (such as something in
Zingiberaceae), but I couldn't identify a plausible match, nor do I know
the nature of the group well enough to say yea or nay.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

In message , The Original
Jake writes
On Sun, 2 Dec 2012 12:18:17 +0000, Sacha wrote:


I saw a photo of a Liriope with one flower open and it had long
stamens. But there are so few photos like that, it's impossible to be
sure. Also whatever this is, it seems to have strongly reflexed petals
as well. Kay is, of course, quite right that it can't be Spiranthes.
I had never heard of that before and must have seen something on the
same page but got the wrong name.

Grasping at straws a bit but something is saying hedychium to me.

The Hedychiums that I've seen don't have flower spikes that extend down
to the ground, have zygomorphic flowers.whilst this seems to have
actinomorphic flowers, and have leaves on a stem, rather than rising
directly from the ground.

It might be that long stamens that are speaking to you - they made me
think in that area as well.

Young plant, not yet formed a tuber. When everything else is ruled
out, the impossible becomes possible.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay where sometimes
it's raining and sometimes it's not.

--
Stewart Robert Hinsley