Ian Thwaites wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 11:33 pm
Wow that is impressive - well done. I have never known anyone to pollinate this plant in cultivation. I remember finding it in flower in Madagascar and how excited I was - Its a great plant to grow.
Thanks Ian, it took a lot of time, effort, and money to get to this point but I think its been worth it. I hope to eventually make seed as widely available as other choice asclepiads, much the same as people have done with pseudolithos thus reducing the pressure on wild populations.
I'm working on some of the other dimorphic species from Madagascar although finding different clones is difficult. One I would particularly like to get hold of is C. leroyi, I believe its very closely related to dimorpha ( if you look at it its just like a stretched out version) so if anyone has the plant to share please let me know.
Ceropegia woodii is perhaps the easiest of the Ceropegias to set seed on. We have a plant which we placed outside (north facing if that is relevant) on some staging for the summer and upon taking it in for the winter noticed that there are well over 10 pairs of seed horns on what is still a relatively small plant, so the insects were busy! The seed horns are still ripening.
I do not know if there is nore than one clone in the pot but there are multiple plants.
Stig wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 9:06 am
It would surprise me if this was the case with Ceropegia as they have enough mechanisms to control pollination with the flower structure and are generally self-incompatible I believe, that to have such a specific temporal window would make pollination extremely unlikely.
That same article recorded success with selfing Ceropegia juncea. I am hoping it will be possible with Ceropegia bulbosa, though that will be a little fiddly as it is so small.
For both pictured I inserted 3 pollinia per flower. Pollen tube growth is rapid and after 24 hours the pollinia cant be removed. I've tried inserting from 1 to 5 pollinia and it doesn't seem to have any effect on follicle development in C. simoneae. Obviously inserting 5 prevents any further pollination by insects but I always check the dried flower remains. I also read somewhere that each pollinia contains enough pollen to fertilise all embryos.
Stig wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:41 pm
For both pictured I inserted 3 pollinia per flower. Pollen tube growth is rapid and after 24 hours the pollinia cant be removed. I've tried inserting from 1 to 5 pollinia and it doesn't seem to have any effect on follicle development in C. simoneae. Obviously inserting 5 prevents any further pollination by insects but I always check the dried flower remains. I also read somewhere that each pollinia contains enough pollen to fertilise all embryos.
Thanks. I should have a go tomorrow. As a lifelong slacker I will go for one pollinium at a time. If my USB microscope is good enough to spot them.
