Acantholimon

[Hoy]

It's the first year Acantholimon androsaceum (Plumbaginaceae) flowers here. Not very showy yet but hopefully better next year!
Probably not androsaceum - look further down.

[Lori S.]

That looks very nice!  The flowers are quite large.

This Acantholimon trojanum bloomed sparingly last year with tiny* flowers - I'm interested to see what it will do this year, if anything.

* Actually, I finally realized that I had missed the actual flowering and only saw the remaining calyx!

[McDonough]

Hello fans of prickly buns, I have moved this topic from the "Family, Genera, Species" board to "General Alpines".

[Lori S.]

On that note...

Here's Acantholimon trojanum with it's tiny, first flowers - well, the calyces, anyway - last year in 2009 (none in our cold, rainy summer of 2010)...


I am just starting to try to expand my collection of these.  Here are a couple grown from seed last year:
A. saxifragiforme - seeds from Pavelka (his description: "1600m, Urgup, Turkey: Dwarf dense silver cushions, short leaves 1-2cm, deep pink flowers on scapes 5-10cm; dry hills, very rare."


... and A. kotschyi ssp. laxispicatum, also from Pavelka (his description: "1600m, Kop Dag, Turkey; silvery-grey cushions, dark pink flowers on scapes to 15cm; dry stoney hills; 2008 seed."
Just after germination, and at planting-out time.
 

Also, a young A. tenuifolium:


I wonder how long it will take these to bloom from seed?

[McDonough]

It's great seeing the difference between Acantholimon cotyledons and the young spiky rosettes starting to develop. Years ago I grew a bunch of Acantholimon, but no longer have any in my current location.  They are intriguing cushion plants.

[Fermi]

Lori,
how do you germinate the things!??
My sole plant came as a seedling from a friend but I've had no success with them - either from the Seedex, commercial seed-sellers or fresh garden seed.
cheers
fermi

[Peter George]

Acantholimon seed is difficult to germinate. Some of the seed is simply not viable, and other seed appears to be ephemeral. On the other hand, some of the seed appears to germinate better after a year in storage. In short, it's a crap-shoot with this genus, so every year I plant a bunch, and every year I get a few. Right now I've 2 plants of Acantholimon acerosum that are about 8 years old, and a couple of others whose names escape me at the moment that are 3 or 4 years old. I learned that in this climate Acantholimon generally need to be sited carefully, away from rocks, to give them the best opportunity to dry off after a rain, or to keep the humidity moving off the plants in the summer. Moisture also tends to collect under the plant in the humid period of the summer, often leading to rot, so I'm very careful to build up about 1 1/2 inches of gravel under each bun and renew it in the spring. When the plants come in contact with soil they rot here, and I've lost several beautiful 2 foot buns in past years. I have no idea what the normal life expectancy of these are, but I recall reading something that Bob Nold wrote, indicating that they live for a while and then just die! No particular reason, other than their lifespan has run its course. Any information about their life expectancy would be helpful.

[Lori S.]

Hi, Fermi,
Both Acantholimon kotschyi ssp. laxispicatum and Acantholimon saxifragiforme   took 5-7 days to germinate in warm conditions, no pre-treatment.  In both cases, the seeds I received looked like dried flowers, which I sowed on top of moist medium, and set under lights in my plant stand in the basement.

NB. I had not tried these before, I don't think, and it was very likely beginner's luck in that case!

[Spiegel]

The most excellent thing about acantholimons (and no one has mentioned it), is that they absolutely are not eaten by the antlered rats.  They do occasionally paw one apart trying to find something edible.  They are also beautiful but some need quite a bit of space.  All my pictures are slides so I'll have to photograph them this year.

[Hoy]

Lori, if you hadn't stated otherwise I had presumed that your seedlings were conifers!

[Kelaidis]

Acantholimon are something of a specialty for us in Denver: most are xerophytes that can grow to immense sizes if they are happy (we have had some over a yard across). They make a spectacle in midsummer.

The one best suited to smaller rock gardens, tolerating some irrigation (or rainy climates) is Acantholimon capitatum, also sold as A. bracteatum ssp. capitatum. In the attached picture you can see a specimen alongside Hirpicium armerioides (which towers over it on the left hand side: this is a tiny African daisy actually). The red flag is Papaver rhoeas, and the pale pink in the foreground is Rosularia libanotica. The Dark green mass is Daphne x susannae 'Anton Fahndrich', in front of which on the far left is the gray, cut foliage of Salvia caespitosa. If you can grow these, you can probably grow the drumstick spikethrift as well. Worth any effort in my opinion!

[McDonough]

Very nice!  And true to its name, I have never seen one with capitate heads of bloom, sort of Armeria-like.

Checking IPNI.org I see almost 400 names listed for Acantholimon, assuming even half of them are valid that still makes for a large genus. And so I slump into my botanizing armchair and take it for a slow meander through the wilds of Asia, to find some good links.  

I know that Central Asia and Eurasia are rich in species, only relatively few listed for China, but I found some drawing in Flora of China that are worth a gander (illustrating Acantholimon tianschanicum, diapensioides, borodinii, kokandense, alatavicum):
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=1769&flora_id=2

I wonder what the "beautiful headed" Acantholimon calocephalum from Pakistan and Afghanistan looks like? Sounds like another capitate headed type.

Search Acantholimon on Marijn van den Brink's fantastic plant photo galleries.  It occurs to me that the value of these plants seems primarily for the impressive spiny hummocks they can create:
http://photos.v-d-brink.eu/search/index.mg?searchWords=acantholimon&searchType=InUser&NickName=Marijn&x=0&y=0

...some selected links from the Marijn van den Brink galleries:
Acantholimon sp. Iran
http://photos.v-d-brink.eu/Flora-and-Fauna/Asia/Iran-Koppe-Dag-nieuw/14597611_GC7et#1085662097_ExZLx

Gypsophila aretioides and Acantholimon species growing in each other, has to be seen to be believed:
http://photos.v-d-brink.eu/Flora-and-Fauna/Asia/Iran-Koppe-Dag-nieuw/14597611_GC7et#1086652041_6Kc8e

Acantholimon sp. Iran, Zagros Mountains
http://photos.v-d-brink.eu/Flora-and-Fauna/Asia/nieuw-Iran-Central-Western/11590743_NSmuG#816784128_4VL2r

Acantholimon embergeri 2500m, Iran, Elburz mountains
http://photos.v-d-brink.eu/Flora-and-Fauna/Asia/Iran-Elburz-mountains/10581644_QF9Lw#735305202_WRdgj
http://photos.v-d-brink.eu/Flora-and-Fauna/Asia/Iran-Elburz-mountains/10581644_QF9Lw#735306503_VSkTU

[Kelaidis]

Just looked at this string again: the one that began it (by Hoy) was supposedly a picture of Acantholimon androsaceum: I believe that is incorrect. A. androsaceum (sometimes classed as A. ulicinum) has stemless flowers. This one is clearly stemmed. It could be any one of several dozen species I have grown...I will not venture a guess. But I would not label it androsaceum any longer...

Compare with Nick Turland's fantastic image from his Flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nturland/474222218/

[Hoy]

Just looked at this string again: the one that began it (by Hoy) was supposedly a picture of Acantholimon androsaceum: I believe that is incorrect. A. androsaceum (sometimes classed as A. ulicinum) has stemless flowers. This one is clearly stemmed. It could be any one of several dozen species I have grown...I will not venture a guess. But I would not label it androsaceum any longer...

Compare with Nick Turland's fantastic image from his Flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nturland/474222218/

Kelaidis, if you say so I do believe it! But the name I provided is the name I bought it with. However I have no problems changing it - it is the only one I have of the genus

[Spiegel]

I think these pictures are Acantholimon androsaceum.  They are growing in sand bed and scree and seem to be long-lived.  There is usually some winter damage seen on the foliage but it repairs itself by mid-summer.  The flowers are a good pink and are stemless.