S. leucophylla in situ, Covington Co, AL

[meizwang]

The population of S. leucophylla from Covington Co, AL is rather amazing! There are deep red plants, bright white ones, and all sorts of different shapes and sizes. My favorite is the reddish plant with the blinding white tops...hard to beat that!

This population seems to have been a lot bigger many years back, but again, I think it was hit by the prolonged drought we had two years ago, which really wiped out many plants. This site is very similar to Bob Hanrahan's property in the sense that it is a large open field that's on a gentle slope. At the top of the "hill" water seeps from below and keeps the area moist but not very water-logged. There's a "creek" that runs near the middle of the bog, and in this creek is a row of S. leucophyllas and many other native plants. It's really thick with vegetation in this very moist creek bed, so I didn't venture into it (snakes commonly hang out in thick brush). Speaking of snakes, we did find a dead one at this site, and it was pretty big! The site looks like it was burned at least a year ago, but it was starting to get pretty thick, and when you can't see your feet, it's a bit nerve wrecking, especially after knowing poisonous snakes are around there.

Unfortunately, all around this site, there are farms and slash pine plantations. In fact, the adjacent parcel is a thick pine plantation. This location seems to be protected and managed by the forest service, so it will likely last in the long run. It's also seems large enough where to the point that the watershed can't be messed with. I did see seedlings here and there, which indicates the population is healthy and expanding. AS long as this site continues to be burned, it will stay healthy.

Overview of the habitat shot. I was standing near the "top" of the hill in this photo, which is a forest of native pines. All photos taken 9/9/13:

Some baby, native long leaf pines growing in the field:

Here's Axel Bostrom with a fairly large, bright white S. leucophylla:

A close up of the same plant:

A slightly red clone:

Some more stunning red plants:

Another shot of the same clump:

The highly coveted S. leucophylla hybrid that has some S. flava var. rugelii in it's genes. I just love these types of hybrids!

Closer shot of the same plant:

Sometimes I start wondering if Hurricane creek white is all that, but upon close comparisons, HCW is much brighter white:

Notice there are veins on the outside of this S. leucophylla var. alba. The best HCW clones under optimal conditions do not have this venation. However, I wonder if the plant below doesn't have veins on the outside under different environmental conditions?

Look at the shape on this one!!!

Some more S. leucophylla var. albas growing in the shrubs:

Wish I could have seen this one open:

A nice healthy clump. This seems to be all one clone:

There were so many S. leucophylla var. albas here:

More photos to come!

[ada]

You're one lucky man to get to see these plants in the wild.Thanks for showing us that can't get to see them.

some of these plants are what growers dream of.

ada

[prized]

some of these plants are what growers dream of.

I think you can say it for all of them!! :)

Thank you Mike for sharing photos with us!! I love all plants from that location! I have seen Brad Wilson's gallery and there is plenty of red throated leucos in that location. I wonder why...

Even "pure" leucophylla looks amazing, they are so big!!

[meizwang]

You're welcome Guys, and keep in mind, this is just the beginning of the photo essays! Most hardcore CP enthusiasts (minus Yuri and a few others) would probably be sick of how many 10's of 1000's of leucos we saw out there :)

You can't tell from the photos, but it's very hard to stay out in the field for a long period of time because it averaged 92 F (33C) with 90+ humidity. When you're hiking in this weather, after a good 30 minutes, your entire body is covered in sweat, and the heat exhaustion catches up to you very quickly. You have to stay very hydrated at all times or else you can pass out. It was also very sunny the whole time we were there, and it didn't rain at all! Usually, the clouds will help cool you down, but it was essentially close to unbearable every day we were in the field.

Back to the red throated leucophyllas: there's S. flava var. rugelii and S. psittacina found at this site as well. I also found a S. x catesbaei, but could not find any S. roseas. However, they were probably in the field somewhere, or there might be another bog close by where there are S. roseas.

Edited September 18, 2013 by meizwang

[prized]

Back to the red throated leucophyllas: there's S. flava var. rugelii and S. psittacina found at this site as well. I also found a S. x catesbaei, but could not find any S. roseas. However, they were probably in the field somewhere, or there might be another bog close by where there are S. roseas.

rugelii influence is very visible, but in cultivation, results like this occur rarely, so that's why I wonder why there are so many leucophylla like moorei in that location. All other photos I've seen on your forum or terraforum, shows very nice perfect hybrid between the two species, but Covington's leucos should have something more than other :)

[moof]

Beautiful plants, thanks for sharing.

cheers

Peter

[meizwang]

Yuri-that's a great observation, and indeed, I haven't seen any moorei crosses created in cultivation that end up looking like the plant photographed above (maybe Cedric or other hardcore breeders have?). In nature, these "red throated leucophyllas" are pretty rare. It might be that it takes many generations of breeding to get to this stage. The only way we can figure out what's going on is to experiment, and here are a few experiments to run:

1) (flava x leucophylla) x leucophylla) x leucophylla with rugelii recessive genes

2)( moorei x moorei) x leucophylla

3) S. leucophylla x leucophylla Here's the catch: both parents should have S. flava rugelii as recessive genes from a few generations back.

Even if one of these formulas work, it may only work with the specific clones you're using. If you figure how to make red throated mooreis with leuco dominant features, be sure to keep track of specific clones you use in the cross.

Peter-you're very welcome!

Edited September 21, 2013 by meizwang

[prized]

Even if one of these formulas work, it may only work with the specific clones you're using. If you figure how to make red throated mooreis with leuco dominant features, be sure to keep track of specific clones you use in the cross.

Do you also have some photo of S. flava speciments in Covington?

I just remember that I have few seedlings looking like them, the crosses are leah(a simple flava x leuco??) x leucophylla, and moorei x moorei "Bud Wilkerson" (again both parents comes from the wild, so no certainties). At least one of the parent plants in both crosses has an very big and dark purple throat.

Have to try this my self and sow more seeds to make better observations.