AMARYLLIS — BRUNSVIGIA — ^BRUNSDONNA. 



37 



chloric acid, potassium hydroxide, potassium iodide, so- 

 dium hydroxide, sodium salicylate; the high reactions 

 with iodine, chromic acid, pyrogallic acid, potassium sul- 

 phocyanate, and strontium nitrate; moderate reactions 

 with gentian violet, safranin, temperature of gelatiniza- 

 tion, potassium sulphide, sodium sulphide, calcium ni- 

 trate, and uranium nitrate ; the low reactions with chloral 

 hydrate, cobalt nitrate, copper nitrate, cupric chloride, 

 and mercuric chloride; and the very low reactions with 

 barium chloride. 



(5) In the hybrids Brunsdonna sanderw dlha and 

 Brunsdonna sanderos the very high polarization and reac- 

 tions with nitric acid, sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, 

 potassium hydroxide, potassium sulphide, sodium salicy- 

 late, and strontium nitrate ; the high reactions with gen- 

 tian violet, safranin, chloral hydrate, and chromic acid; 

 the moderate reactions with iodine and temperature of 

 gelatinization ; the low with potassium iodide, sodium 

 hydroxide, calcium nitrate, and uranium nitrate; and 

 the very low with pyrogallic acid, potassium sulphocya- 

 nate, sodium sulphide, cobalt nitrate, copper nitrate, 

 cupric chloride, barium chloride, and mercuric chloride. 

 The following is a summary of the reaction-intensities: 



(6) In the curves of the hybrids which show in the 

 iirst place a very close correspondence with each other, 

 and in the second place a closer correspondence, on the 

 whole, with the curves of Amwryllis belladonna than with 

 those of Brunsvigia josephince, the hybrid curves are 

 for the most part either lower than or practically the 

 same as the Amaryllis curves, in only four instances 

 are the curves higher, and then in an unimportant degree. 



Notes on Amaryllis, Brdnsvigia, and Beunsdonn.*. 



The botanist has assigned Amaryllis belladonna and 

 Brunsvigia josepJiince to separate genera. Upon the 

 basis of the peculiarities of their starches in their histo- 

 logic properties and reactions with the various agents and 

 reagents, it seems that these species may be regarded as 

 being mem.bers of either closely related genera or well- 

 separated species of the same genus, such as represen- 

 tatives of subgenera; but the data are too limited to 

 justify more than speculation. The most remarkable 

 features of these records are: (1) in the hybrids the 

 many extraordinary low or high reactivities, especially 

 the former, that exceed the parental extremes, this being 

 noted in 15 out of the 26 reactions; (2) the absence 

 of sameness of any reaction as that of the pollen parent ; 

 (3) the sameness of the reaction as that of the seed 

 parent in 4 reactions of one and 6 reactions of the other 

 hybrid. The marked departures of the hybrid curves 

 shown in excessive or deficient reactivities in comparison 

 with the reactivities of the parents seem to be more sug- 

 gestive of bigeneric parents than of parents belonging to 

 the same genus. 



Beunsdonna tubeegbni, etc. 



This additional matter treats of descriptions of Bruns- 

 donna tubergeni, Amaryllis parkeri, and A. parheri alba 

 {A. belladonna Icewensis alba), and comparisons of the 

 starches of B. tubergeni, A. parkeri alba, Brunsdonna 

 sanderm alba, and B. sanderae. 



Brunsdonna tubergeni, A. parkeri, and A. parkeri 

 alba are of especial interest in conjunction with the 

 foregoing studies of the Amaryllis-Brunsvigia-Bruns- 

 donna group because : the first is known to be a hybrid 

 of Brunsvigia and Amaryllis; the second is looked upon 

 as being probably a Brunsvigia-Amaryllis hybrid; the 

 third is a variety of the second and is regarded as being 

 the same as A. belladonna kewensis alba, the parentage 

 of which is unknown; and the last two are known hy- 

 brids of Amaryllis-Brunsvigia, but without positive 

 knowledge of the direction of the cross. Appertaining 

 to the foregoing, the following data appeared in The 

 Gardeners' Chronicle, 1909, xlv, 57 ; 1911, l, 210 : 



Brunsdonna tubergeni: Mr. C. G. Tubergen, Jr., thus de- 

 scribes the circumstances of a crosa between Brunvigia 

 josephmm a/nd Amaryllis ielladonna: 



Principally with a view of ascertaining the parentage of the 

 Kew variety of Amaryllis belladonna (see illustration in The 

 Garden, November 19, 1898; also notes in The Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, February 9, 1901, etc.), in the autumn of 1892 I 

 artificially impregnated Brunsvigia Josephines with the pollen 

 of Amaryllis belladonna. Seeds formed freely, as the two gen- 

 era, Brunsvigia and Amaryllis, are very nearly related. As 

 could be foreseen, with slow-growing Brunsvigia josephince as 

 the female parent, a long time had to elapse before the seedling 

 plants would be strong enough to reach flowering size. After 

 16 years of patient waiting, two of the strongest bulbs pro- 

 duced flower-spikes in September of last year. When the 

 hybrid plants had been growing for a few seasons it became 

 evident that they differed in habit from the Kew variety of 

 Amaryllis belladorma, which produces a leaf-stem of about 4 

 inches high, whereas my hybrids all bear the character of 

 Brunsvigia josephince in the foliage, leaves being formed di- 

 rectly above the neck of the bulbs. The infusion of belladonna 

 blood is clearly shown in the bulbs, as these resemble those of 

 the belladomna and produce offsets freely, whilst Brunsvigia 

 never produces offsets. A comparison of the supplementary 

 illustration, which was drawn by Mr. Worthington Smith from 

 the inflorescensce sent from my garden, with the engraving in 

 the Garden above cited, leads to the conclusion that the Kew 

 plant can no longer be regarded as a hybrid between these spe- 

 cies, unless it was a cross effected in the reverse way, taking 

 Amaryllis belladona as the female plant. In that case the 

 variety blanda must have been used, it being the only variety 

 of A. belladonna known which produces a leaf-stem. The color 

 of the flowers of my hybrid was a clear, deep rose, suffused 

 with carmine. A single spike produced 22 flowers. 



Amaryllis parkeri (hyb.). This is assumed to be a hybrid 

 between Brunsvigia josephince and Amaryllis belladonna. It 

 differs in the form of the umbel from A. belladonna, being quite 

 circular and carrying some 30 flowers and buds. The flowers 

 are of a deep rose shade, with white and orange at the base 

 and orange-colored on the exterior of the tube. It is distinct 

 from the ordinary A. belladorma, possesses greater vigor, and 

 has a stem some 3 feet in length. This plant is almost identical 

 with the plant known as the Kew variety of A. belladonna, 

 which is also A. parkeri, being the same cross and varying only 

 in being a better rose color with less orange shade. Mr. Hud- 

 son informed us that his Amaryllis was shown as A. bella- 

 donna "Kew variety," because it was received imder this name 

 from an amateur cultivator in New Zealand some six years 

 ago. This is the first season of flowering at Gunnersberry 

 House. It may prove to be Mr Van Tubergen's plant, which 

 he obtained from crossing Brunsvigia with Amaryllis bella- 

 donna. Mr. Tubergen's hybrid formed the subject of a sup- 

 plementary illustration in The Gardeners' Chronicle. January 

 23, 1909. ' 



