My turn with the fringe lilies. A couple of months ago the twining fringe lilies were out – and delicate little things they are. Now we have a more robust fringe lily in flower at Digby. It could be T. tuberosus or T. juncifolius. I’m inclined to the latter because the few leaves look like rushes.

Here is the flower, not doubt about it being a fringe lily:

I thought I’d dig up a couple of bulbs and bring them home to see how it went potted here (with some of its own soil), but they are deeper than I thought and all I succeeded in doing was pulling the top off. One of these bits does seem to have seed capsules, so I’ll keep them in the vase and see if they ripen up.

Any comments?

buffy said:

My turn with the fringe lilies. A couple of months ago the twining fringe lilies were out – and delicate little things they are. Now we have a more robust fringe lily in flower at Digby. It could be T. tuberosus or T. juncifolius. I’m inclined to the latter because the few leaves look like rushes.

Here is the flower, not doubt about it being a fringe lily:

I thought I’d dig up a couple of bulbs and bring them home to see how it went potted here (with some of its own soil), but they are deeper than I thought and all I succeeded in doing was pulling the top off. One of these bits does seem to have seed capsules, so I’ll keep them in the vase and see if they ripen up.

Any comments?

Think this one is Thysanotus tuberosus. It has multy branched stems from the base and wider petals. Is also more luxuriously mauve.

Though T. baueri has larger clusters with longer tubers, it has only one stem and thinner petals. Flower colour is also less rich purple, to pinkish blue.

on the twining fringe lily;

This is what T. baueri is like.

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

My turn with the fringe lilies. A couple of months ago the twining fringe lilies were out – and delicate little things they are. Now we have a more robust fringe lily in flower at Digby. It could be T. tuberosus or T. juncifolius. I’m inclined to the latter because the few leaves look like rushes.

Here is the flower, not doubt about it being a fringe lily:

I thought I’d dig up a couple of bulbs and bring them home to see how it went potted here (with some of its own soil), but they are deeper than I thought and all I succeeded in doing was pulling the top off. One of these bits does seem to have seed capsules, so I’ll keep them in the vase and see if they ripen up.

Any comments?

Think this one is Thysanotus tuberosus. It has multy branched stems from the base and wider petals. Is also more luxuriously mauve.

Though T. baueri has larger clusters with longer tubers, it has only one stem and thinner petals. Flower colour is also less rich purple, to pinkish blue.

And T. baueri isn’t in these parts, it’s Northerer.

buffy said:

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

My turn with the fringe lilies. A couple of months ago the twining fringe lilies were out – and delicate little things they are. Now we have a more robust fringe lily in flower at Digby. It could be T. tuberosus or T. juncifolius. I’m inclined to the latter because the few leaves look like rushes.

Here is the flower, not doubt about it being a fringe lily:

I thought I’d dig up a couple of bulbs and bring them home to see how it went potted here (with some of its own soil), but they are deeper than I thought and all I succeeded in doing was pulling the top off. One of these bits does seem to have seed capsules, so I’ll keep them in the vase and see if they ripen up.

Any comments?

Think this one is Thysanotus tuberosus. It has multy branched stems from the base and wider petals. Is also more luxuriously mauve.

Though T. baueri has larger clusters with longer tubers, it has only one stem and thinner petals. Flower colour is also less rich purple, to pinkish blue.

And T. baueri isn’t in these parts, it’s Northerer.

Yep. That too.

buffy said:

My turn with the fringe lilies. A couple of months ago the twining fringe lilies were out – and delicate little things they are. Now we have a more robust fringe lily in flower at Digby. It could be T. tuberosus or T. juncifolius. I’m inclined to the latter because the few leaves look like rushes.

Here is the flower, not doubt about it being a fringe lily:

I thought I’d dig up a couple of bulbs and bring them home to see how it went potted here (with some of its own soil), but they are deeper than I thought and all I succeeded in doing was pulling the top off. One of these bits does seem to have seed capsules, so I’ll keep them in the vase and see if they ripen up.

Any comments?

Making a couple of size estimates, it keys to Thysanotus tuberosus subsp. parviflorus

https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/f64134cf-adcb-4e32-b854-94b2c77ad3ad

PermeateFree said:

buffy said:

My turn with the fringe lilies. A couple of months ago the twining fringe lilies were out – and delicate little things they are. Now we have a more robust fringe lily in flower at Digby. It could be T. tuberosus or T. juncifolius. I’m inclined to the latter because the few leaves look like rushes.

Here is the flower, not doubt about it being a fringe lily:

I thought I’d dig up a couple of bulbs and bring them home to see how it went potted here (with some of its own soil), but they are deeper than I thought and all I succeeded in doing was pulling the top off. One of these bits does seem to have seed capsules, so I’ll keep them in the vase and see if they ripen up.

Any comments?

Making a couple of size estimates, it keys to Thysanotus tuberosus subsp. parviflorus

https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/f64134cf-adcb-4e32-b854-94b2c77ad3ad

Thanks, I’ll look at the link.

The distribution works. I’ll see if I can get some measurements on what I’ve got here.

buffy said:

The distribution works. I’ll see if I can get some measurements on what I’ve got here.

:) Should have done that first. They do dry out and shrink a bit.

buffy said:

The distribution works. I’ll see if I can get some measurements on what I’ve got here.

No worries.

buffy said:

The distribution works. I’ll see if I can get some measurements on what I’ve got here.

And the distribution for T. juncifolius doesn’t. I’ll fix the name on my photos.

Thank you.

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

The distribution works. I’ll see if I can get some measurements on what I’ve got here.

:) Should have done that first. They do dry out and shrink a bit.

And they close in the afternoon.

buffy said:

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

The distribution works. I’ll see if I can get some measurements on what I’ve got here.

:) Should have done that first. They do dry out and shrink a bit.

And they close in the afternoon.

Yes. I do note that the T. baueri tend to open after lunch and close at dusk.

buffy said:

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

The distribution works. I’ll see if I can get some measurements on what I’ve got here.

:) Should have done that first. They do dry out and shrink a bit.

And they close in the afternoon.

They all do, amazing how such an intricate flower can fold itself up so completely.

PermeateFree said:

buffy said:

roughbarked said:

:) Should have done that first. They do dry out and shrink a bit.

And they close in the afternoon.

They all do, amazing how such an intricate flower can fold itself up so completely.

In Wahlenbergia, some insects stay curled up in the closed flower overnight.

roughbarked said:

PermeateFree said:

buffy said:

And they close in the afternoon.

They all do, amazing how such an intricate flower can fold itself up so completely.

In Wahlenbergia, some insects stay curled up in the closed flower overnight.

Be nice a safe I would imagine, unless accidently consumed by a hungry herbivore.