Sunday, July 29, 2012

Julii seedlings

These are some seedlings of the Japanese cultivar julii v. fulleri 'Kôsôgyoku' (紅窓玉). I've had this cultivar before but the plants didn't make it. The seedlings were sown exactly one year ago and some of them have their second real leaves. The coloring and patterns aren't clear yet but might develop into something interesting, I think.

13 comments:

  1. They look great Rika, you're making me very jealous, lol. I thought these were 'Kikushogiyoku' but just realised they're different. :-) Would you know what the difference is, and what their names mean? The bright orange/red colours look very beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They've started pretty weak but are growing much better now, thank you! :)
      From what I can tell, Kôsôgyoku are red with big windows and less lines. Kikushôgyoku seem to be darker and with lines all over the red windows. I think they are highly variable, though. Beautiful in any case. :)
      Kôsôgyoku characters - 紅窓玉 - mean "scarlet window"; Kikushôgyoku - 菊章玉 - means "chrysanthemum emblem".
      There are japanese names for all Lithops species, most end with 玉 (gyoku), which means jewel (or sphere if read differently).
      If you're interested in pics of this cultivars you might want to search google using the japanese names. ;)

      Delete
  2. I've noticed quite a few Japanese spp/var names. Are Lithops popular in Japan? These are very pretty and delicate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lithops are very popular in Japan. The leading collector is Yasuhiko Shimada who has created such famous cultivars like bromfieldii 'White Nymph' or hookeri 'Shimadas Apricot' as well as several others as far as I know(ventergreens, green horns, kikushogyoku, etc.). He is also the author of the book "The Genus Lithops" which is utterly amazing, so many beautiful photos! All in all there's quite a community among Japanese Lithops fans :)

      Delete
  3. Ooo, I have to find a copy of that book, thanks for the info!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hm I think it is sold out, or only available in Japan (if you buy it from Shimada directly).... I don't know...

      Delete
  4. Looking great for a year! WOW, Envy, Envy! LT

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are quite small, you know. :)
      The proportions of the photo might be misleading. ;)

      Delete
  5. Very nice indeed. I'm sure the first batch was just bad luck or the change of environment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. With LIthops we never stop learning :)

      Delete
  6. Красавчики! Только я с первого взгляда подумала что это карасмонташки ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Спасибо :)
      Хаха, посмотрим, что из них вырастит. Я у того продавца купила 2 пачки: kôsôgyoku и summitatum. Может под конец они выглядеть будут одинаково)))

      Delete
  7. I want one! I want one! ;-) Congratulations it s a wonderful cultivar.

    ReplyDelete