Newbie question

[wildedges]

Sorry this is probably obvious to those in the know but I bought a plant (Sedum Versadense) that came with the number FO195 after the name. After a bit of research it seems like this should have read FO196 which is the field number for a plant collected in Mexico by Felipe Otero. Does this mean the plant is a vegetative propagation of his original plant? It's not something I've come across while buying plants before. I've found the link below but hardly any details are given of when it was collected although it seems his collection dates stop in the late 1980s.

http://www.cl-cactus.com/fnfinder.asp?L ... versadense

https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555 ... m000046460

[habanerocat]

It could be from seed or an offset I suppose. Or both. No way of knowing.

[MikeT]

Does this mean the plant is a vegetative propagation of his original plant?

It could be from seed or an offset I suppose. Or both. No way of knowing

Rebutias with collection numbers will almost always be subsequent generations from seed. My plant of Rebutia albiareolata FR761 would be better described as Rebutia albiareolata ex FR761 (I know that it was grown from seed).
Most Sedums, such as versadense, will be propagated from cuttings or leaves, and will be the same clone as originally collected. Though in theory your plant could be seed-propagated, the chances are much in favour of vegetative propagation - but as habernocat has said, no way of knowing for certain.

[wildedges]

Thanks for explaining that. I don't plan on selling plants on so it doesn't really matter to me but I was just curious about the heritage of it. It's an interesting thing to research either way.

[ralphrmartin]

Some collectors use different notation for vegetative propagations.

For example, for Ralf Hillmann's plants, a number by itself, e.g. RH1234, is probably seed raised,but a number followed by /n indicates a vegetative propagation of the nth particular clone of the original collection, e.g. RH1234/3.

[MikeT]

For example, for Ralf Hillmann's plants, a number by itself, e.g. RH1234, is probably seed raised,but a number followed by /n indicates a vegetative propagation of the nth particular clone of the original collection, e.g. RH1234/3.

Sounds useful. Does 'nth particular clone' mean generations from seed? If vegetative from the original plant, then it's the same clone regardless of how many times cuttings are taken (unless there's been a 'sport').

Sheffield Botanical Gardens uses the system:
H = Cutting of an originally habitat collected plant
Z = Grown from seed pollinated in habitat
Y = Grown from seed collected from habitat plants in cultivation

I've tried googling this but can't find any reference to it as a standard system. It does seem strange if there isn't a standard botanical system for indicating provenance. Or have I failed to put the right words into my search?

[Phil_SK]

See https://www.cactuspro.com/lecture/Chile ... 46.en.html and p47.

[MikeT]

Very interesting, Phil, thanks.

So it's a Graham Charles system. I must pass that on to the plant database administrator at the Botanical Gardens.

[Nick_G]

For example, for Ralf Hillmann's plants, a number by itself, e.g. RH1234, is probably seed raised,but a number followed by /n indicates a vegetative propagation of the nth particular clone of the original collection, e.g. RH1234/3.

Sounds useful. Does 'nth particular clone' mean generations from seed? If vegetative from the original plant, then it's the same clone regardless of how many times cuttings are taken (unless there's been a 'sport').

No, it means that the field collector took more than one clone of that species from that particular locality. RH1234/3 would be third clone collected of that species from the same locality.

[MikeT]

Thanks, Nick