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igor_fl

Identity of a gesneriad

igor_fl
18 years ago

I photographed this one at Fairchild Gardens ...would not mind getting my hands on one of these ... any idea what this may be? My guess its a kohleria or some kohleria hybrid ...

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Thanks.

Comments (6)

  • komi
    18 years ago

    Kohleria amabilis?

  • jon_d
    18 years ago

    Amabilis is a very good guess. It probably is a form of that species. There is a plant that Hans Wiehler had, which he was going to name K panamensis. He gave it to me as K. panamensis ined. "Ined" means not yet published. Other professional botanists do not like the use of "ined" names. In this case the species was never published and Hans has passed away. A few years later, a cv. emerged named "Panama Pink", which I got and as I suspected was this same plant. It is now considered to be a form of amabilis. It seems to be a little easier to grow than the older form of the species, has leaves that are mostly dark brown, while the other forms have more of an even mottling However, kohleria leaf patterning can be highly variable due to culture and luck. Anyway, the cv. 'Panama Pink' came from Tim Anderson, who has a nursery in the Miami area called Palm Hammock Orchid Estate. So, my suspicion is that this is that plant and it came from Tim. BTW, most kohleria hybrids have no pollen. If this plant has pollen (visable when the flowers first open) then it is almost certainly a species. 'Panama Pink' had loads of pollen when I flowered it about five or six years ago. BTW, I no longer use the name "panamensis ined" and call it K. sp. (aff. amabilis) 'Panama Pink'.

    Here is a link to the web site for Palm Hammock. On the kohleria page there should be a picture of this cv. Hopefully you can purchase a plant, cutting or rhizome from them.

    Jon

    Here is a link that might be useful: Palm Hammock Orchid Estate

  • seaecho1
    18 years ago

    Gorgeous little plant! Absolutely breathtaking! I used to have a Kohleria 'Court Jester," or something similar to that. I loved it. It was flourishing, but suddenly died for unknown reasons. I'd like to get another Kohleria, but I'm afraid that being gesneriads, I may not have good luck. I can't grow AVs for the life of me. Yet my orchids bloom like crazy. Go figure.

    Randi

  • igor_fl
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Thank you all so much for a detailed response!

  • jon_d
    18 years ago

    Randi you probably had the popular hybrid, 'Jester'. Another with a similar name is 'Clown Prince', both wonderful hybrids created by Patrick Worley. Back in the late 70's and early 80's he was naming his kohleria hybrids after various names from the midieval court, following a theme started by Mike Kartuz ('Princess', etc.) Patrick named such hybrids as Emperor, Empress, Jester, Clown Prince, Roundalay, Duchess, etc.

    Kohlerias will sometimes die down to their rhizomes. You may not have lost your plant, it may have made a rhizome. I have totally dried out my collection and had them come back three months later, after I resumed watering. They like lots of bright light to grow well. Once a stem comes into flower, it will often continue to set buds and flower for many months before finally dying down to rhizomes. Usually by that time the plant will have sent up new shoots. Sometimes, though, a plant will die back without making rhizomes though. It just takes a little experience to get a handle on these plants.

    Jon

  • JohnnieB
    18 years ago

    I agree that it's very close to K. amabilis; it's either the true species or a hybrid involving that species. It's hard to say for sure because K. amabilis has been in wide cultivation for a very long time, both in Europe and in Latin America, and at least some of the forms going around as this species are probably hybrids and all the forms now in cultivation are of unknown wild origin. Selby Gardens has a form of K. amabilis that was collected as a cultivated plant in Ecuador, far outside the natural range of this species (which is originally native to a very small area of Colombia near Bogota).

    I've never grown 'Panama Pink' (a name which Tim Anderson used for a plant he obtained from Hans Wiehler when I advised him that "panamensis" was not a validly published species name) so I can't comment on that plant, or whether this picture is of 'Panama Pink'--but it is certainly a gorgeous plant.

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