Sanderianum forms

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Rick

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The smaller plants I've had since Fall of 06. One is from Gypsy Glen, and the other is a Windy Hill clone with Dragon Dance and Dark Spider parents. Both have more than doubled in size since I got them. The long leaved one in front I just got today from Carter&Holmes, and has Raven Cliff Falls as a parent. Its kind of hard to tell from the photo perspective, but the Raven Cliff Falls plant has much longer and skinnier leaves than the other two. I also have a clone from Sheerwood (now blooming size) that has proportionately short wide leaves.

I remember that there has been some discussion about lowland forms of sanderianum with long slender leaves, and highland forms with relatively short wide leaves. There may also be some correlation to petal length too?? The Raven Cliff clone was awarded with petals in excess of 36".

Anyone up for discussion. I think Leo had allot of info on this subject.

 
Rick,
I don't know how I missed this thread but I'll post PICs of my two sandies when I get a chance. I see the same thing as far as leaf structure goes. I've also heard of the lowland vs. highland possiblies as well. It will interesting to see if there is anything to this.

Rick H
 
I am hesitating, I was recently informed (not by any forum member, this is a home issue) that EVERYTHING I know is wrong, so of course I need to check that.

Actually - Lance Birk is the one who should weigh in on this
 
I measured my 2 plants last night. the larger one is just over 18 inches and the other (orginally the wider leafed one) is approx 12 inches. The smaller one is hard to measure because it's growing in a "V" shape. I didn't keep records as for ls so it's hard to say what they started out at (purchase time). I would guess 5 -6 inches. I got the 18" one in 4/05 that an avg of 6"/yr Their both fast growers.

Rick H
 
i have several different sanderianum plants from different sources, of different sib crosses. there is no doubt differences in the leaf structure. I do believe this has to do with elevation range as I recall reading about this before. Im not exactly sure why the plants do that but I would guess the more narrow leaved plants that typically grow in a more "V" shaped leaf habit are the ones that grow in the lowlands and the wider leaved ones more upslope. If this is the case it probably has to do with the plant trying to cut down the stomata that are exposed to the sun (probably hotter and brighter downslope), contrastly, further upslope where its more likely a bit cooler and cloudier the leaves can grow bigger and flatter so as to maximize how much light they can receive... just a thought. no idea what the petal length correlation might be...
 
I imported a lot of sanderianum from Malaysia, in several batches ( with CITES... straight from Sarawak), and bought quite a few here and there, usually blooming size plants or divisions.

Regarding the seedlings, some are of genuine parentage, some are obviously not. I remember a thread where ( I think Lienluu???) posted a pic of a 'division' of a 'selected sanderianum', that obviously was the standard, crappy form.

In my experience with those plants, there are about 3 groups of plants, that heavily depends on the colonies they are coming from.

Sanderianum lowland type such as Shin-Yi ( that's a famous one), they have darker green leaves, and can reach the size of a kolopakingii, 3-5 flowers, usually the petals are over 65 cm. The leaves can be quite narrow or wide actually, it is an individual variation.

I have got an individual ( I have to find back the pictures) with 120 cm petals in Sarawak, I bought it in bloom, it was obviously a very, very well grown plant for ages. I went at the blooming season, ordered a CITES some months before, and selected in a large nursery that had some hundreds plants in bloom. They tend to have softer, thicker and darker green leaves. The habit stays when they are cultivated. That man grew them in plain big pieces of charcoal, daily watering, and powder fertilizer by the tablespoon at the base of the plant...

Sanderianum highland types, they usually are more yellowish plants with darker colored flowers. The petals tend to be shorter, in the 50 cm+. They are easier to grow as well, because at the repotting time, it is quite difficult not to break many roots on a sand, and a lowland form resent being repotted if it is not very carefully done, and no root damage should occur, or dehydratation will follow. Whilst the highland type has shorter petals, I like it a lot, because the dark ones are very beautiful.

Sanderianum crappy types. Whilst I know the sources for the two former ones, I do not know the exact source for those latter ones. They appear everywhere worldwide, have been used to make a lot of flasks, the petals are in the 30-40 cm, it is hopeless to expect them to go past 40 cm anyway... Usually 2-3 flowers per stem. That's most of the 'blooming size' sands on sale from Taiwan. They occur apparently in much larger colonies, I have seen up to 2000 wild collected plants at once, and the leafspan is about 40-50 cm, yellowish leaves. They tend most of the time to be single growth or at most 2 growths. In Peninsular Malaysia, it is possible to buy those for US$10/plant maximum.

I am very reluctant to buy sanderianum seedlings like that, I would not touch the ones coming from Taiwan, because some looks damn funny compared to the parentage ( lowland parents, and highland type seedlings...).

Now another option that I am quite sure about is that quite a lot of sands 'seedlings' around may not be sanderianum too. Some seedlings prove to grow in a quite odd way compared to mature, bloomed, confirmed plants...
 
Here are my two

The one on the left (V shape) started out with the short and broad leaves and rounded over tips bought it in 3/07. The sanderianum on the right was bought on 4/05 and was narrower and with pointed leaves as a seedling. Both are in 2.5 inch aircones
Psander1W-Oflash.jpg


PsanderWflash.jpg
 

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