ONLINE JOURNAL ISSUE NO. 4 | NOVEMBER 2013 sub sole sub umbra virens IN THIS ISSUE: ‘Discovering French Guiana’ ‘The Athens of Germany’ ‘Passiflora Obsession Disorder’ ‘Hawaiian Lilikoi’ and more Letter From the Editor Contents Issue 4 An embryo plant, a supply of nutrients, and a protective coat. This seemingly simple assembly of parts, one we call “seed”, ONLINE JOURNAL was nevertheless one of the most important advancements in 04 Discovering French Guiana the evolution of plants. The “invention” of the seed goes way sub sole sub umbra virens By Jean-Jacques Segalen. A history of French Guiana and a fabulous account of his expedition to its rain forests. back in time. They start appearing in the fossil record, in a very Issue 4 2013 primitive form, during the Late Devonian period, about 385 million years ago. Until then, existing plants reproduced through ISSN 2046-8180 either vegetative methods (asexual) or through spores (e.g. ferns). Letter to the editor The seed made the embryo more resistant to the environment 14 and provided a more effective means of propagation (e.g., spore EDITOR & PUBLISHER From Dr L. A. King. 04 dissemination is too random and relatively inefficient). The real Myles Irvine breakthrough came later, in the Early Cretaceous period, with the appearance of flowering plants, the Angiosperms. The name ASSOCiate EDITORS Passiflora in the Athens of Germany stems from Classic Greek and literally means “bottle seed”, Shawn Mattison 16 referring to the fact that these plants produce seed within an Luís Lopes By Sylk Schneider. A fascinating history of the Duke of Weimar’s interest in gardening, including Passiflora, and its legacy. enclosure, the fruit. The appearance of the fruit was likely a major factor in the explosive dissemination of angiosperms, an event CReatiVE DESIGN that Darwin called an “abominable mystery”. The production of Martin Murray flowers and seed-bearing fruits promotes genetic diversity (e.g., New Hybrid Passiflora ‘Party Animal’ through cross-pollination) and complex animal-plant interaction COnsultant 22 A new hardy polyploid by Myles Irvine. (e.g., destruction of germination inhibitors in the digestive tract, Eric Wortman dispersion of seed over larger areas, specialized pollinators). Ultimately it promotes complexity in an ecosystem. We invite submissions from all Passiflora enthusiasts, from cartoons, garden tales, recipes and growing tips to articles about new species and Passiflora Obsession Disorder Commercially, however, seed is hardly ever used to propagate hybrids and reports of wild collecting trips. Please contact any of the 24 By Eric Wortman. A diagnosis of the ills that affect those of us in plants. Vegetative propagation methods, such as by cuttings, are editorial team above. Even if you have not written anything before we are the grip of Passiflora obsession! 16 here to help. more popular as they preserve the characteristics of the mother plant, and make it easier and faster to produce new plants, and, Articles in any language are welcome but will usually be translated and of course, it is the only legitimate way to propagate hybrids. Yet, published in English only for reasons of space. We reserve the right to edit or refuse articles but ask contributors to note that we are not set up to to preserve species under cultivation it is important to maintain a Got Lilikoi? Hawaiian delights offer scientific peer review. Please note that contributors will currently not 26 diverse genetic pool, with several clones of the same species being be paid. Letters to the editor for publication are also welcome. By Gail Hercher. Lilikoi, the Hawaiian name for passion fruit. grown in the same or different collections. Genetic diversity is A history of passion fruit growing on the islands and some Note that new species should first be submitted to the appropriate scientific great recipes. what makes individuals of the same species not exactly the same. botanical journals so that the validity of the name is established, after which Some will have slightly lovelier flowers, others will be more time we may carry an article about them. If you wish to formally register resistant to parasites or disease. In case of infection, some plants a hybrid, which is optional, you should apply to the Passiflora Cultivar may die but others may be naturally immune. This why it is so Registrar who, if your application is accepted, will publish your hybrid in the Passiflora Society International Journal & Newsletter. important to invest in producing true species seed with cultivated plants, especially for those under threat in their natural habitats. Terms of Use The example of Passiflora parritae, comes to mind. For several You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only for your personal or non-commercial use. You may years the only known clone of the plant in existence was kept at not use this material on a web site or publish it in any way, whether the Strybing Arboretum at San Francisco, in the United States. for personal, educational, commercial or non-commercial purposes, However all attempts to set fruit with true parritae seed failed. without permission. 22 The survival of the species was at risk. Then, a few years ago, a few more plants were found in Colombia and now several clones Front cover Passiflora linearistipula exist in the Bogotá Botanical Garden and in farms near Bogotá. Nevados Natural Park, at 2600m Thanks to the dedication of several growers it was possible Manizales, Caldas. Colombia to produce the first true parritae seed and they are currently © John Ocampo 2004 being disseminated. We may be witnessing a major step in the preservation of Passiflora parritae for future generations. So, enjoy growing Passiflora, whether species or hybrids, but if you have a chance to produce true species seed, you can make an important contribution to the conservation of those species by growing from seed and by disseminating the seeds to other collectors. 26 24 PASSIFLORA ONLINE JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2013 PASSIFLORA ONLINE JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2013 4Discovering 5 French Guiana By Jean-Jacques Segalen ome readers will of course know about French Guiana as this is one of the few European territories where passionflowers grow abundantly in the wild. It is European because it belongs to France although it is located in South America and borders Brazil in the South and Surinam (former Dutch Guiana) in the West. To be exact it is set between 2° and 5° of Northern latitude Sand between 51° and 54° of Western longitude. First settled by the French in 1604, full-scale colonization only started in 1620 and was complicated because of the climate and many illnesses, plus conflicts with the indigenous American peoples who had been inhabiting the area for around 5000 years. The first major French settlement was at Cayenne in 1643. The colony was at various times controlled by the Dutch, English, French, and Portuguese until French rule was restored in 1817. It is now one of the 100 French Departments, and with some 225 000 inhabitants over an area of 83634 square kilometers it is the most sparsely populated with 2.7 people per square kilometer. Most people live on the coast where the main city of Cayenne can be found. About 65 kilometers further up the coast is Kourou, a city that still bears the sinister memories of the penal colony, the infamous Devil’s Island, and today features the Guiana Space Centre, France and ESA’s main spaceport. The population is a mix of Creole, French, Chinese, Hmongs, Caribbeans, Haitians, Amerindians, Brazilians, Surinamese and Bushinenges (descendants of former African slaves who hid in the forest). There are an estimated 30 000 to 60 000 illegal aliens, many working in the forest seeking gold and who release large amounts of quicksilver in the rivers hence inducing serious pollution. Some savannah and swamps can be found along the Northern coast but most of the land (some 94%) is covered with primary forest, a part of the Amazonia. This is typical equatorial forest with a canopy at about 25 to 35 m high (75 to 105 feet) dominated by ‘emergent’ trees up to 50m (150 feet) or more. The very dense foliage allows only 1% of the sunlight to reach the ground so the underneath is rather dark and not dense as few plants can adapt to such low light levels They are mostly ferns, orchids, mosses, dwarf palm trees and rhizomatous plants such as gingers and heliconias. Passionflowers do not enjoy such darkness and are only found in clearings--either natural ones, made by falling trees, or man-made clearings such as roads, trails or spaces created by wood-cutting activities. The climate is hot and humid with 3 to 5m (10 to 16 feet) of rain per year, and an average temperature of 27°C all year round, so you can almost see plants growing right before your eyes! In this relatively small area there are an estimated 440 000 species of animals and plants, an incredible paradise for any serious nature lover. The forest hosts about 1300 different species of trees and a sole hectare (a square of 100m by 100m) will have between 80 and 200 different tree species while the same surface of temperate forest would only offer 3 to 6 tree species! Trees are usually covered with climbers, lianas, epiphytes such as bromeliads, orchids, mosses and the like, which offer protection and food to many animals and insects. This all results in an incredible concert of live, booming songs - blowing, cracking, shouting and squeaking. The forest can be pretty noisy! Ranitomeya amazonica © Johann Tascon 4 PASSIFLORA ONLINE JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2013 PASSIFLORA ONLINE JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2013 6 7 Plant © 2011 Jean-Jacques Segalen I have had the dream of P.