Nothing new and exciting blooming Downunder?

[MrCym]

One might expect something of interest by mid-May???

[OrchidWise]

Well, it's not new, and maybe not exciting, but rarely seen here in Australia.....
My Cym. Toni Benton (Cym. erythraeum var. erythraeum X Cym. iridioides) decided to flower for the first time in 3 years!
A Kevin Hipkins creation.....

[MrCym]

Well it's lovely! I have a bit of an interest in Cym. giganteum hybrids and this is the best balanced Cym. erythraeum hybrid I've see. Thanks for posting.

[Gary S]

Well, if Kevin was still alive he would be singing its praises as well. I remember a conversation I had with Kevin years ago - how he thought the erythraeum species was very underrated, but he also said one had to do some very judicious hybridising with it to get the desired results. This obviously is one of those hybrids, well grown and flowered.

[Australis]

To the best of my knowledge, Kevin only ever used erythraeum var. flavum (particularly 'Paradise'), not erythraeum var. erythraeum. This is likely not one of his crosses, although he definitely made the original Cym. Toni Benton. I tried to note all the primaries using the two species here:

https://www.cosv.com.au/species-profiles/cym-erythraeum

If erythraeum and flavum are ever split again (which they should be, based on both morphological and genetic evidence), then this hybrid will be unnamed.

[OrchidWise]

Maybe this wasn't Kevin's cross then....I think it came from Stephen Early, but I still thought it was Kevin's cross. I'll have to ask Stephen and repost.....

[MrCym]

Would be interesting to know for sure.

[Gary S]

Going back to your original question Andy, just had a good look in between rain showers (the weather has been all over the place) and I have nothing in flower and no visible flower spikes showing. I am sure the weather is playing around with the normal flowering cycle down here.

[MrCym]

Gary, I was sorting plants today and thinking of the three Australian Cym species. This is how I rate them: Cym. madidum, by far the most valuable, useful and rewarding. It never ceases to amaze me with its progeny and their usefulness. Cym. suave, a distant second but so useful due to the wonderful Bunyip crossing that a nasty man converted to 4n under the name of Cym Squirt! I have little time for Cym. canaliculatum except through Canal Parish where Cym. parishii 'Sanderae' has made something useful. I hate the untidy foliar habit of Cym. canaliculatum and most of its hybrids.

[Gary S]

Andy, you are probably rating them from a hybridizers viewpoint and I totally understand that.

My rating of the three Australian Cym species, totally from their own standing - how they grow and how they flower in the greenhouse growing in the conditions they thrive on in the wild would be:

1. Cym canaliculatum in all its forms.
2. Cym madidum.
3. Cym suave.

I only have a couple of plants of suave, simply because I can drive 10 minutes from where I live to see great clumps of it growing beautifully in the bush.

I have 3 plants of madidum, the common form, the alba and var. Leroyii which is more green than the common browner form.

I have many canaliculatum's, of all types, colors and markings, with shorter leaves and longer leaves - all are different - probably why I rate it the No. 1 Aussie species.