After a controversial discussion on the forum in the topic "Shouldn't we give grandma's hippeastrums a name?" (and the vote), the idea arose in writing this article in order to avoid myths about the names of nameless grandmother hybrids.
Where did these unnamed grandmother hybrids come from? The answer to this question can be obtained by looking into the history of the distribution and hybridization of hippeastrums. The study of hypeastrums began in the late 18th century. Botanists William Herbert, John Hilbert Baker, and later Hamelton Paul Trobe and others, contributed immensely to the study, description, classification and development. First, wild species hippeastrums were described. Species hippeastrums found in nature were taken to the famous Botanical Gardens for further study and use in hybridization.
To date, about 80 species of hippeastrum have been found and described by botanists in nature in the tropical and subtropical regions of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Portugal, Brazil, Venezuela.
Hybridization began in 1799. By crossing Hippeastrum reginae x Hippeastrum vittatum, the first hybrid was obtained, officially named Hippeastrum x johnsonii after its originator, the English watchmaker Johnson.
Not only botanists, but also gardeners became interested in hippeastrums, by the middle of the 19th century there were more than 100 varieties. Hippeastrums are widespread in Holland, England, USA, Australia. Hippeastrum was imported to Russia from the middle of the 19th century.
Interest in this culture in the world is growing every year. Hybridization is carried out in Holland, England, USA, South Africa, Israel, Japan, Latin America, etc. By crossing species and/or varietal hippeastrums, originators (people who breed new varieties) annually receive hundreds or even thousands of seedlings. Of these seedlings, only the best are selected. Selection takes place according to certain criteria. Creating a new variety, the originator sets himself tasks. For example, get flowers of a certain unusual color and shade, or a certain size (large-flowered or, conversely, small-flowered), or increase the number of flowers on a flower arrow, or get a strong, stable flowering, stress-resistant (resistant to diseases, pests) variety, etc. In practice, the best seedlings are units, and the rest are rejected. There are unsuccessful crosses from which all seedlings are rejected. A decent originator destroys all rejected seedlings.
For further use of the best seedlings, the creator applies for registration of the variety. The registered seedling becomes a variety, receiving a unique name. The registration procedure is complicated and not all seedlings pass it.
Hybrids from the famous James Veitch & Sons nursery in London
Leland Hermon Brown collector of hybrid amaryllis (Reginae and Leopoldii hybrids).The question arises, why do you need registration? The answer is simple for order and for avoiding conflict situations.
Here is an example:
The situation is the first. Let's take two famous originators, I will figuratively call them originator 1 and originator 2. These two originators are engaged in the selection of hippeastrums. In the process of their work, they get an excellent result, and they assign the same name to the seedling. These seedlings with the same names go on sale and after a while buyers and the originators themselves understand that different varieties have been bred, and they are sold under the same name.
Second situation. The same originators display the same hybrid in terms of external varietal features, call it different names. The flowers are absolutely similar, and are sold under different names. As a result, again an awkward, conflict situation is a deception of the buyer, finding out who first bred this variety, who has the right to sell, etc.
So, so that there were no such awkward conflict situations, and there was an order in the breeding of varieties, an organization was created that registers varieties and maintains a huge registration register. This register contains the main characteristics of the variety (size, color, shape of the flower, morphological features of the flower, etc.), how this variety was obtained (parents), who received the variety, date of registration, information about the originator and names of varieties. The names in this registry are unique and not duplicated. According to the rules, you cannot take a name that already exists in the registry. Even if it is the name of an old lost variety.
Today, KAVB (Royal General Association of Bulb Growers) is the international registration authority (ICRA) for new varieties of the following plant genera: tulip, hippeastrum, hyacinth, crocus, muscari and irises.
After registration, the originator can obtain a patent for the commercial use of this variety. The patent protects against theft of intellectual property and gives the right to commercial use of this variety on a large scale.
But not all originators go this way. Firstly, the registration procedure is expensive, rather lengthy and there is no guarantee that the seedling will be registered, that is, they can find reasons why registration will be refused. Secondly, there is no guarantee that the money costs and time spent will pay off, the variety may turn out to be poorly sold. Thirdly, there are lovers of this culture who are engaged in pollination for the sake of interest. Usually, amateurs do not understand the basics and problems of sorting, do not destroy rejected seedlings, but distribute them between the same amateurs and do not think that the spread of marriage leads to global disorder. Some time will pass and in this rejected seedling, collectors will begin to look at either the variety or the "species rarity," which was strangely received by the grandmother or aunt, and then donated.
The question of unnamed hybrids is just touched upon here. These are mostly either culled or unregistered seedlings or very old lost varieties.
And in the collections of hippeastrum lovers, UbabushkinF hybrids are very often found. They got the name "grandmother's" just from lovers of hippeastrums. There is no information about their selection, and the owners say about the origin "they got it from their grandmothers from Soviet times." These grandmother hybrids have characteristic distinguishable features and do not have a name (or it is lost). So there was a proposal to collectively give a name and make a description.
Since we do not have information about the originator and about the grade. It cannot be argued that these grandmother's hybrids are varieties. We do not have the right to give an official name to these hybrids, since only the organization registering new varieties gives official names. We, as a team of hippo lovers, give a working unofficial name with the abbreviation NI and make a brief description of the hybrid. If authorship is established over time and information about the variety is found, the name and author will be corrected to the official ones.
Hippeastrum Creole
Description for the grandmother's hippeastrum, to which the team of amateur hippos of the portal rukodelie.net/plants gave the unofficial name "Creolka-NI"
Unofficial name: "Kreolka-NI"
Origin: to date, there is no exact information about the origin of this hippeastrum and one cannot be sure that all plants similar in phenotype are a clone from one plant, that is, they have the same parents, one cannot be sure that this plant was not spread by seeds, therefore, we describe similar plants as a hybrid group similar in phenotype.
Originator: Unknown
Date of assignment of an unofficial name: 1.07.13
Who was given the name: the ideological organizer Elena Shcherbakova. The name was assigned after a vote conducted by a team of members of the rukodelie.net/plants portal
Classification: simple, medium-flowered (Medium).
The main tone of the flower: the flower is plain with a light radiant star in the throat. The flower is quite variable, the color can vary from light pink-orange to red-orange. The main color is applied in two stages more light orange evenly along the petals, dark red-orange along the longitudinal veins. A lighter clone is found in the collections, i.e. the main tone is light, and an additional red-orange is applied along the longitudinal veins.
Number of flowers per flower arrow: 3-5
Flower shape: flattened flower, well open shape, perianth with a short tube.
Petal shape: petals oval, pointed to the tips. In full dissolution, the petals are bent.
Flower size: 10 to 16cm
The description for this hybrid was Elena Shcherbakova:
Hippeastrum hybrid of unknown selection of Soviet times, detoxification is good, blooms with a bulb diameter of 6-7 cm, the bulb is rounded elongated, the arrow is 40-45 cm green without tanning, the flower diameter is 15 cm, a flower with well-defined orange venation and a strip, with a characteristic light star, lasting from the throat for each petal, slightly not reaching them edges. The star has more pronounced red borders, the bit in the throat is present, the throat with a slight greenish tint, the stamen threads and the pestle are not completely painted, based on the throat they are white, the ends of the threads brighten closer to the anthers, the stigma of the pestle is white, the transition of color is smooth. There are three or four flowers, the seed pods are green. Anthers are small, pollen yellow. The arrow appears at the same time as the foliage.
Hippeastrum Pomegranate Bracelet
Unofficial name: "Garnet Bracelet-NI"
Origin: to date, there is no exact information about the origin of this hippeastrum and one cannot be sure that all plants similar in phenotype are a clone from one plant, that is, they have the same parents, one cannot be sure that this plant was not spread by seeds, therefore, we describe similar plants as a hybrid group similar in phenotype.
Originator: Unknown
Date of assignment of an unofficial name: 21.10.13
Who was given the name: the ideological organizer Elena Talantova. The name was assigned after a vote conducted by a team of members of the rukodelie.net/plants portal
Classification: simple, medium-flowered (Medium).
The main tone of the flower: the flower is plain dark red with well-defined venation . The color is variable from scarlet to ruby. In the throat, the red is often not colored and the throat of the flower may be yellowish green.
Number of flowers per flower arrow: 3-4.
Flower shape: the flower shape is open, perianth with a short tube.
The shape of the petals: the petals are oval-oblong, pointed to the tips, bent in dissolution.
Flower size: 10 to 15 cm.
The description for this hybrid was made by Elena Talantova:
The flower is a rich red with dark red venation. The color is variable from scarlet to ruby. In the throat, the red is often not colored and the throat of the flower may be yellowish green. The bulb blooms when it grows more than 5.5 cm, flowers on the flower arrow 3-4, the height of the peduncle is on average 50-55 cm. The size of the flower in full dissolution is 10-15 cm, the width of the segments is "sail" 4-5 cm, "wings" 3-4 cm, "oars" 3-4 cm, "tongue" 2-3 cm. The size of the flower and the width of the petals, waviness is highly dependent on the bulb's expulsion and age. Young and weakened bulbs can bloom to the floor of power, in small flowers with narrow petals. The petals are oval-oblong, pointed to the tips, bent in dissolution. The shape of the flower is funnel-shaped, open. The column of the pestle, stamen filaments are red, closer to the throat yellow-green, stigma white. Pollen is yellow, medium fraction. The leaves are green with a tan closer to the bulb, 50-60 cm high, 3.5-5 cm wide. The bulb is rounded, the scales are brown. Baby good.
Hippeastrum Dudka satire
Unofficial title: "Pipe satire - NI"
Origin: to date, there is no exact information about the origin of this hippeastrum and one cannot be sure that all plants similar in phenotype are a clone from one plant, that is, they have the same parents, one cannot be sure that this plant was not spread by seeds, therefore, we describe similar plants as a hybrid group similar in phenotype.
Originator: Unknown
Date of assignment of an unofficial name: 21.10.13
Who was given the name: the ideological organizer Elena Talantova. The name was assigned after a vote conducted by a team of members of the rukodelie.net/plants portal
Classification: simple, medium-flowered (Medium).
The main tone of the flower: red-orange
Number of flowers per flower arrow: up to 4 flowers
Flower shape: funnel-shaped, elongated
The shape of the petals : oval-oblong, pointed to the tips, bent in dissolution. There are white "claws" at the tips of the petals.
Flower size: about 15 cm.
The description for this hybrid was made by Elena Talantova:
The flower is red-orange with a light yellow star in the throat, in full dissolution with finely wavy edges along all the petals. The bulb blooms when it grows more than 5 cm, the flowers on the flower arrow are usually 4, the height of the peduncle is on average 50-60 cm. The size of the flower in full dissolution is about 15 cm, the width of the segments is 2-4-5 cm, the narrowest lower segment. The petals are oval-oblong, pointed to the tips, bent in dissolution. There are white "claws" at the tips of the petals. The shape of the flower is funnel-shaped, elongated, open. From the side, the flower looks very graceful due to the elongated funnel. The column of the pestle, stamen threads are painted from the stigma to the middle in red, from the middle to the throat in light green, the stigma is white. Pollen is yellow, medium fraction. The leaves are green with a slight tan closer to the bulb, about 60 cm high, about 5 cm wide. The bulb is round, the scales are brown. Baby good.
Hippeastrum Wonderful oars
Unofficial title: "Wonderful Oars - NI"
Origin: to date, there is no exact information about the origin of this hippeastrum and one cannot be sure that all plants similar in phenotype are a clone from one plant, that is, they have the same parents, one cannot be sure that this plant was not spread by seeds, therefore, we describe similar plants as a hybrid group similar in phenotype.
Originator: Unknown
Date of assignment of an unofficial name: 21.10.13
Who was given the name: the ideological organizer Elena Talantova. The name was assigned after a vote conducted by a team of members of the rukodelie.net/plants portal
Classification: simple, medium-flowered (Medium).
The main tone of the flower : red-orange with a light radiant star in the throat and a dark red beat.
Number of flowers per flower arrow: 2-4
Flower shape: open flower shape, medium-length perianth tube.
Petal shape : oval-oblong, pointed to the tips.
Flower size: 12-15 cm.
The description for this hybrid was made by Elena Talantova:
The flower is red-orange with a light radiant star in the throat and a dark red beat, with wavy edges. The bulb blooms when it grows more than 4-5 cm, flowers on the flower arrow 2-4, the height of the peduncle is on average 40-50 cm. The size of the flower in full dissolution is 12-15 cm. In dissolution, the petals are well bent. Three external segments ("sail" and "oars") are oval-oblong in shape, pointed to the tips. Three inner petals ("wings" and "tongue") of a narrower oblong shape, pointed to the tips. The shape of the flower is funnel-shaped, open. The column of the pistil, stamen filaments shorter than the segments, are colored from throat to middle in light yellow, from middle to stigma and anthers in red. Stigma white, pollen yellow.
Authors: Elena Talantova and Elena Shcherbakova