In the introduction of Xanthina in the 1919 ARS Annual, the photo below was printed. Might anyone have a sucker (as opposed to cuttings as the weather is heating up too much for success, I fear) of this double form they might be able to share, please? Thank you!
[flickr_photo src=http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7182/6842717756_907dbd0d83.jpg nsid=67995840@N04 id=6842717756]xanthina 1919[/flickr_photo]
Kim, I have not got a sucker or cutting, if I did I would give you one, have just got off HMF, there are a few of it on there, could you tell me which one that you refer to as ‘Xanthina’ comes up on another tread about “yellows”.
Hi David, I don’t think I’m understanding what you’re asking. There is much overlap (from what I see) among Xanthina, Hugonis, Primula, Ecae, etc. Then, there is the thing I grow from Ralph Moore, provided as “Hugonis”, which I’m told isn’t, but no one knows what it is. It’s what is pictured on HMF as Hugonis from me.
The “Xanthina” I’d love to grow is the very double one like the ones pictured on Baidu, the Chinese Google, and the black and white, 1919 photo I began the thread with.
Kim,
There is a photo of a magnificent double R. xanthina in the species section of Botanica’s Roses also. They call it Rosa xanthina lindleyii. I have been yearning to find it for years! This is not to sell the single xanthina short, however. Also fantastic!
Sorry Kim, I went to HMF to find it(Double Xanthina) and found 17 look alikes. I was looking to see which one you were referring to so I possibly purchase it here in OZ.
The photos on Baidu are amazing.
Hi David, that is the hard part! R. Xanthina duplex is also regular old Xanthina; “Manchu Rose”; R. Xanthina “lindleyii”; etc. and is described as having from 5 to 20 petals! People post photos of double Xanthina flowers, but no nursery SELLS double Xanthina. I would love to find one with as many petals as possible.
105 years ago, Meyer brought both plants and seed home from China. Single and double forms were raised from the seed. Obviously, they still exist somewhere, just not where any are for sale, nor in anyone’s garden who has contacted me about it.
I peeked at the Chinese site and it is perfectly understandable why one would want any of these variations of Xanthina. This is gorgeous.
Kim, would seed from China be any good, if someone has contacts there ?. The other thing is “wood” from China allowed into the US or is there a long quarrintine time ?.
I would imagine there would be a long quarantine for wood. Seed could be double, or they could be single. I’m impatient enough to not want to wait three years or more to see flowers. By then, I may not still be interested!
Bt world seeds says under Xanthina that the flowers are semi double. I don’t know for sure if this is true.
I would love one of these double versions, really beautiful flowers and vivid color in the pix!
Thank you. More than likely, they are repeating the “popular legend” so often repeated when you find mention of the species, without any personal knowledge of it. Even if they were collected from a double plant, they could still result in single flowers. Meyer was certainly knowledgable enough to have kept seed collected from single and double flowered types separate. No mention was made of that, only that seed raised resulted in double and single flowering plants.
George, have you got any contacts in China ?
I have 25 grams of xanthina seed on order from B & H seeds. I was planning to kill most of them with trifluralin. Maybe I’d better grow a few out (assuming I can get germination) and see what comes of them.
Hi David, no contacts in China so sorry…still, Adam’s and jbergeson’s B&T world seeds option sounds too easy, could certainly give that a go, you might get a few doubles out of that seed, who knows!!!
Good luck Kim, I hope someone in USA can share some of that delicious double version with you.
I have a connection who occasionally stumbles over some pretty esoteric things. Thanks for reminding me. I’ll have to email him.
One thing to not about Bt seeds. The rose seeds are really dormant because they are so dry so it takes forever to get seeds to germinate. Have not tried Xanthina from them so I can not comment if it is actually xanthina they sell or if it is xanthia if you would even get something over 5 petals. I thought if you could not find it else where and really wanted it is was worth a try. Most of the seeds they sell are correctly labeled however I use them for certain plants species I can’t find in the states. But identifying roses is hard as we all know. So I have my aprehension; plus if they have their stock plants near other species they might be crosses also. It is expensive when you figure out the conversion rate from pounds to dollars.
I defenetitly see why you would be interested in it Kim. I wonder why the single has been the norm. Most roses the double would be the prefered variety or form.
Perhaps the single grows the most vigorously? That would make sense. Increasing the rows of petal decreases the number of stamen, reducing fertility. Double flowers usually would die out in Nature as they are often less vigorous and less fertile. The more easily propagated versions are often those which are the most propagated. Perhaps the double flower form is a mutation which reverts? Odd that it would be possible from seed, though. I would think it might be worth it to a nursery to “specialize” in some of the more esoteric species variations. There would seem to be a small, but fairly “rabid” following for these types.
