Copia dell'e-mail di Jim Lykos inviata il 16 maggio 2009 all'autore de Il Sentiero Verde dei Bulbi.

 

Hi Henry,

 
The seed parent of most xAmarygia's is Amaryllis.  Seedlings of the reverse cross are weaker and the majority perish in the first two years of growth. The cross was made by John Carne Bidwill  in 1841 here in the outreaches of Sydney at Camden Park estate.  He had 4 colour varieties of Amaryllis belladonna and crossed these with two Brunsvigia species, josephinae and orientalis (then known as B. multiflora). Almost all the seedlings from the Brunsvigia's died during the first winter but those from Amaryllis parents grew strongly.
The Amarygia hybrids flowered in summer 1847 and he called the best of the seedlings Brunsvigia Emily. 
He made these crosses and many other intergeneric hybrids at the home of his benefactor and friend William Macarthur planting these in the 12 acre garden at Camden Park estate.  The Macarthurs were probably the most wealthy of all the colonial families involved in Agriculture and they sold these and many other South African (particualry Crinums) and South American bulbs (Hippeastrums), ornamental shurbs and trees, perennial plants, grape vines, fruit trees etc through their wholesale plant nursery.  Over time the Macarthurs accumulated  50,000 acres of prime land around Sydney  and had nearly three hundred indentured farmers and vineyards workers working  their land.
 
Some of the invoice books and plant catalogues from the 1850's have survived, and we know that orders for bulbs and fruit trees, roses etc came from all over Australia mainly from the landed gentry.  It is these bulbs that are now found in the gardens of old farms and were sold and the Amarygias were distributed as Brunsvigia josephinea since the 1930's.  The Amarygia hybrids from backcrosses resembling Amaryllis  were sold as Brunsvigia Multiflora Rosea and Alba until the 1950's.  
 
The white Amaryllis Parkerii alba (white Amarygia)  that became prominent in English glasshouses  from the 1870's was taken to England by a daughter of James Macarthur after her marriage.  
 
I used the term hybrid Amaryllis to distinguish between the F1 Amaygia that most resembles the Brunsvigia parent and the F2 hybrids that generally resemble vigorous and more colourful Amaryllis belladonna.  In fact it's possible that what I am calling  F2 hybrids came about due to backcrossing of Amarygia with Amaryllis belladonna rather than an Amarygia x Amarygia which is very hard to obtain due to the lack of fertility in F1 Amarygias.
In contrast the F2's are very hardy, have larger bulbs, more leaves  and  usually larger flowers and they appear to have lost most of their Brunsvigia DNA.  The Amaryllis varieties that Bidwill used in the crosses were:  

1.  The common short pink with narrow leaves – early

2.  The broad leaved pink   later

3.  The broad leaved striped with very tall scape

4.  The pure white variety – leaves broad – scape short – flowers larger than any of the others not fading to pink, capsule(?) nearly twice as long.[i]

A few years later he flowered the Amaryllis blanda seedlings that Herbert gave him and used this to make the Amarygia cross. Blanda is now thought to be a natural Amarygia hybrid found by a plant collector and auctioned in England as a rare species around the 1820's. We have lovely illustrations of it in Curtis's Botanical magazine. 

These descriptions are broadly consistent with naturally occurring varieties, which vary in colour from deep rose-pink to white, some having more or less distinct striations on the segments. [ii],[iii]  The pure white variety is of particular interest as Bidwill distinguishes it from Amaryllis blanda, considered by most botanists, including Bidwill, to be a separate species and which he apparently never saw in flower.  Although this note is undated it was almost certainly written in the early 1840s and may be the first reference to a pure white-flowered A. belladonna.  Bidwill may also have included other species, such as Hippeastrum, in this list, although, given the very different characteristics such as flowering time, this is unlikely.

 

[i] Bidwill’s Notebook.  In Herbert on Bulbous Plants, National Herbarium Library, Canberra, ACT, Australia.  Page 2.

[ii] Rice, E. G. and Compton, R. H. (1950) Wild flowers of the Cape of Good Hope.  (The Botanical Society of South Africa, Kirstenbosch, Newlands, C. P., South Africa).

[iii] Creasey, L. B. (1939) Callicore rosea in its native habitat. Herbertia, 1939, p.214

 

I have a quote below from a not yet published paper that a friend  (Colin Mills)  has written on this matter:

    
---

Much of Bidwill’s hybridisation work is virtually unknown or uncredited but none has generated as much interest and controversy as his claims to have raised hybrid Amaryllis belladonna with both Brunsvigia josephinae and a species called by him Brunsvigia multiflora, probably Brunsvigia multiflora Ait., (synonyms Brunsvigia orientalis (L.) Ait. ex Ecklon, B. gigantea Heist., Amaryllis orientalis L.)  Herbert described it under the name Brunsvigia multiflora in his Amaryllidaceae, a book well known to Bidwill, cross-referenced in his note book, and owned by him since 1840.

Most late 19th and 20th century commentators considered Bidwill’s crosses to be fore-runners of the multiflora Amaryllis hybrids.  These are characterised by their vigour and hardiness, a large number of flowers per scape, sometimes twenty or more compared with ten or less in A. belladonna, often more vivid colours than A. belladonna, although ranging from white to almost crimson, a characteristic yellow to almost orange throat, and, often, broader segments with more rounded apices.  Many names have been given to these multiflora hybrids, including x Amarygia parkeri, x Brunsdonna parkeri, Brunsdonna multiflora, Amaryllis multiflora and Amaryllis x multiflora.  Throughout this paper we have used x Amarygia parkeri as a descriptor for such plants unless discussing the work of a particular author.  Bidwill’s own letters and notes, containing detailed descriptions of his hybrids, clarify his involvement in the history of these plants. 

Amaryllis belladonna x Brunsvigia sps.

It seems likely that Bidwill’s interest in Amaryllids stems from his early contact with Herbert, who he visited on his brief return to England in 1843.  In 1850 Bidwill wrote, in answer to a letter in The Gardeners Chronicle:

I formerly had a great fancy for Amaryllids, but I have lost the greater part of my interest in them since the death of Dean Herbert, as I now have no person having a like interest to whom I can communicate my results. […] In Herbert’s “Amaryllidaceae”, p. 278, mention is made of some seedlings raised from Amaryllis blanda and A. Josephiniana.  In 1843 Mr. Herbert had the kindness to give me one of his bulbs, which was then, he told me, 20 years old, and was not so big as a goose’s egg.  It would not, in all probability have flowered in 20 years more; in a more suitable climate, such as that of my present residence, it would probably have flowered in four years, but it was destroyed by accident.  I never saw A. blanda in flower, and now only possess two seedling bulbs, given to me by Mr. Herbert, which are expected to flower this season.  If it should flower, I will repeat Mr. Herbert’s experiment, and also raise crosses between it and Belladonna.[i]


 

[i] Bidwill, J. C. (1850) Cape Amaryllids. The Gardeners Chronicle 1850, p.470.

 

 

   Hybrid Amaryllis x F1 Amarygia

 

   F1 hybrid  between Amaryllis

                                                                                                                                                         and Brunsvigia josephinae

                                                                                                                                                                 (Amarygia "Emily")