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gerris2

Mutant Asagao Colored Line Drawings

When I visited Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, and Dr. Eiji Nitasaka in July 2009, he kindly permitted me to look through his private collection of old books he had collected over the years which show wildly fabulous mutant asagao strains (Asagao is the Japanese word for morning glory) and moreover, he permitted me to take some photographs of many of the pages of artwork. I made a small photo collage to show you some of them, see below. I often ponder if these rare strains are still being grown privately amongst the collectors in Japan, as well as what techniques were used to develop the strains with these central upright tube flags. Awesome!

Joseph

Comments (9)

  • luvsgrtdanes
    14 years ago

    Wow Joseph how cool is that!!! Gosh can you imagine growing them today!!

  • karyn1
    14 years ago

    What beautiful artwork. The ones with the upright tube flags are really cool. I would think they are still being grown by some Japanese collectors, at least I hope so. It would be a shame to allow such beautiful varieties to die out.

  • primrose1x3
    14 years ago

    Joseph, did Dr. Nitasaka say whether they are trying to bring any of the lost mutants back? Wouldn't that be exciting? I'm right with you in wondering how they bred these beauties in the first place.

    And then, there's the possibility of mutants never seen before...mwa-hahahaha

    Thank you for the collage - those are excellent photocopies.

    I found some scans of lower quality than yours of mutant asagaos (mutant morning glories), but folks can download a separate plate for each mutant - makes a nice slide show or wall paper to study.

    Asagao sanjuu rokka sen 36 Selected Asagao is in German, and following are two links to two different scans of this book. The wiki scan's images are open domain, which means copyrights have expired so the images can be freely used. The other scan, though, is better quality.

    -- http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/asagao/ (German, better scans)

    -- http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Asago_sanjuu_rokka_sen

    -------------------
    Another set of mutant asagao images is on Dr. Yoneda's website:
    -- Click on http://protist.i.hosei.ac.jp/Asagao/Yoneda_DB/E/menu.html
    -- Then scroll down to Image Archives, and click on Old Pictures

    I can't recommend too highly Dr. Yoneda's online book that is such a great tutorial for beginners and anyone interested in how to grow morning glories. There's a lot more about morning glories on this website, too, for folks of all levels.

    Joseph, I hope you don't mind my collecting relevant material so that we can have it all together on your thread. Your visit to Kyushu U and with Dr. Nitasaka was an awesome dream come true, and I know we all greatly appreciate being able to vicariously enjoy it through you.

    karen

  • Gerris2 (Joseph Delaware Zone 7a)
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Karen, feel free to contribute; I find the information fascinating.

  • rosepedal
    14 years ago

    Wow look at the leaves on pic one and two.. That is so neat. Are their Mg with those leaves? Those are wonderful Joseph.. What great history to have.. Thank you for sharing with us...Barb

  • Gerris2 (Joseph Delaware Zone 7a)
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I found similar mutant systems on the Kyushu University web site photo pages. See link below for an example.

    I am still looking for a real life example of a JMG that looks like a chrysantemum flower, like the one shown above in first posting, 2nd row, first one on the right.

    Joseph

    Here is a link that might be useful: Kyushu University strain X407

  • rosepedal
    14 years ago

    Joseph thank you for the link... Joseph would that pic be of the hige flowers????..I dont know newbie here... I just love the link to Kyushu University I keep going back lol..:) Such wonderful pics to look at and dream about.

  • Gerris2 (Joseph Delaware Zone 7a)
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    The photos shown in the line drawings and in the photo link are Ipomoea nil strains. The hige strains I believe are strains of a different species, Ipomoea purpurea.

    I agree, the Kyushu University JMG picture pages are a big time sink for viewing and wishing!

    Joseph

  • rosepedal
    14 years ago

    Thank you for teaching us Newbs :) That has to be the best link I have seen in a long time..

    Opened it up and out came the drool cracking up... Love it bunches..

    Joesph are you starting more seeds now? I was thinking about it..Will they germ now? I had a huge bug problem in the gh last year and had to rip them out...

    What is a good bug deterant for them? May I ask please anybody? I dont have access to a water hose in the winter time frozed tundra hahahhah

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