Camellia japonica seems to be too diverse to be a single species. Several of its countless cultivars seem to be either other distinct species or hybrids of other species. Regardless, they are all products of selection and breeding from within their single species, which is why the camellia pictured below is the only one of these six without an “X” in the middle of its name. The other five are hybrids, and three are the same hybrid species. However, one commonality of all six is that their cultivars are unidentified. I guessed a cultivar for the rose in the past. Columbine grew from a feral seed of a hybrid parent that apparently was not particularly sterile.

1. Iris X pacifica, Pacific Coast iris are hybrids of various native species, although mostly Iris douglasiana. Different cultivars can have different ancestry. These are unidentified.

2. Rosa X hybrida, rose is also an unidentified hybrid of unidentified ancestry. It seems to be a floribunda rose, with a few secondary floral buds behind each primary floral bud.

3. Iris X pacifica, Pacific Coast iris is my favorite color, but is actually not my favorite of the cultivars here. Blue, purple and burgundy red are too velvety exquisite to not prefer.

4. Aquilegia X hybrida, columbine grew in an awkward location from the seed of others that did not want to grow where planted. It stayed because it is the only columbine here.

5. Iris X pacifica, Pacific Coast iris in yellow is a bit more colorful than the white cultivar but not as richly colorful as the others. Blue, purple and burgundy red are done already.

6. Camellia japonica, camellia is as unidentifiable as the other five of these six but is not an interspecific hybrid, which is why it lacks an “X” in the middle of the botanical name.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

12 thoughts on “Six on Saturday: Unidentified Hybrids

  1. I think some botanists are of the opinion that what is known as camellia japonica involves more than one species. So many cultivars have been raised from open pollinated seed who would even know?

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    1. Oh, I did not consider the open pollinated sorts. I find it hard to believe that so much variation could have developed from breeding within one species.

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  2. They are all lovely, especially the yellow iris, reminding me that my iris are about to flower any day now. I also look out for a wild one in the woods… although it may just be from someones’s garden rubbish they threw there, I like to think of it as wild!

    Oh, and I agree that these would make a lovely floral arrangement… you don’t have to be an expert to put a few stems in a vase and tomorrow is the day for the In a Vase on Monday meme….. 😉

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    1. When I composed a vase for In a Vase on Monday, it was more to display individual flowers than a composition. I think I did so a few times with my mother’s roses. I suppose that I could, although I would be selective with any flowers that I take from the landscapes.

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