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Frank

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  1. Hi Chris, Don't we all wish we had the sterile tissue culture and light banks that Andreas has!!! I have successfully raised all 5 Lecanopteris species from spores that I have tried: mirabilis, curtisii, darnaedii, pumila and sinuosa. For me it is a slow process and I don't get decent little plantlets until the third year. It is a hobby for me and not a business. I start with compressed peat pellets and soak them in distilled water. Then I cut them in half the long way and lay them in a petri dish or shallow tray. I sprinkle the spores on the exposed surface of the pellet from the cut and spray with a fine mist of distilled water. I insert the whole thing in a zip lock sandwich bag and put under lights, off to the side of the fixture. No real need to water with the totally closed system and I eventually get a green mat of the gametophyte generation (your word prothalli). Once those show up I occasionally open the bag and spray a fine mist of distilled water so the sperm can swim to the eggs. The new sporophyte generation (The ferns with rhizomes and fronds we grow) will eventually start to grow from where fertilization was successful. Pricking out those sporophytes and putting them into small community pots of milled or chopped sphagnum is where it gets trickier and I loose some. Those community pots also get distilled water and are totally closed in zip lock bags. Only when the plantlets get some rhizome and have several fronds do I gradually start the process of opening the zip lock bag in small increments over a period of many weeks to get the plants off of full humidity I know some people sterilize the cut open peat pellets in a microwave as you do. I don't, but I sometimes have to "harvest out" fungus or moss from within my zip-locked bags. Again, I am not a commercial grower and don't mind losing a part of my crop to moss and fungi. To answer your question specifically - I would suggest you not remove the lid on your containers until you have sporophytes growing and be sure to remove the lid by small increments. Doing a google search for "growing ferns from spores" will give you some other people's experiences and techniques. There is no one right way to do this. Good luck and let us know how the process goes for you. Frank
  2. Jeff, as Derrick noted this is the type description that Derrick had listed for this species in message #2 of this thread. Derrick, I did not get this article from the WWW. I xeroxed the pages from a physical copy of the book. I live near the University of Michigan and I found out they had the book in their library using Worldcat - a worldwide catalog of books. www.worldcat.org Frank
  3. This is the original description of H. spathulatum in its original Latin and French in case you native speakers of Latin and French want to check something in the translation. TABULA CCCXL. Hydnophytum spathulatum Val. n. sp. Rubiaceae. Fig. 1. Ramulus florens. — Fig. 2. Pars sectionis tuberi 1/4: — Fig. 3. Nodus fructifer 3/1. — Fig. 4. Alabastrum 6/1. — Fig. 5. Corolla floris aperti 6/1. — Fig. 6. Stylus 6/1. — Fig. 7. Stamen a dorso et ventre 10/1. — Fig, 8. Calyx 6/1. — Fig. 9. Drupa 5/1, — Fig. 10. Pyrena a dorso et latere dextro 6/1. Tuber oblongus nunc 25 cm. longus, 10 latus. Rami numerosi semimetrales virgati laxe ramulosi, graciles, intermedia ulteriora 25—35 mm. longa, 2—3 mm. lata, tetragona, subacutangula. Folia subsessilia basi articulata, obovato-spathulata apice rotundata basi sensim in petiolum brevem attenuata, coriacea, siccando nigrescentia. Costa media infra prominens, nervi laterales subimmersi, utrinque conspicui, circ. 4 utrinque. Flores in tuberculis pulvinatis axillaribus circ. 5 mm. altis glomerati nidulantes, basi bracteolis brevissimis membranaceis et pilis rufis circumdati. Calyx parvus cupularis membranacens pilis brevibus rufis appressis parce conspersus. Corolla parva, exsiccata in toto 5 mm. longa, lobis oblongis tubo paullum brevioribus. Antherae erectae sessiles oblongae demum anguste ovato-oblongae apice obtusae basi emarginatae. Faux ad antherarum insertionem fasciculis pilorum villosorum donsorum barbata, intra antheras pilis longioribus densis antheras haud superantibus obsessa. Stylus valde elongatus filiformis parte supriore 1/3 incrassatus (in alabastro incurvus) stigmata brevia papillosa. Drupa parva obovato-globosa apice constricta. Cette espèce nouvelle très marquée appartient à la section ***B de BECCARI [voir Malesia II, p. 124 (Tab, 32, 34, 37)], section très bien caracterisée d'abord par les fleurs à demi-enfoncées dans des tubercles axillaires, entourées à leur base par des bractéoles quelquefois considérables, et couvertes de poils rousses tant sur le calice que sur les bractéoles, et puis par les pyrènes obovées ar¬rondies au sommet. BECCARI a décrit trois espèces de cette section: H, tortuosum BECC., B. pet-olatum Becc. tous deux de la Nouvelle Guinée, et H. ovatum MIQ. habitant l'île de. Ternate. J'y ai ajouté déjà deux espèces nouvelles : H. bracteatum VAL|. et H. Kochii VAL. (voir Nova Guinea pars VIII, troisième fascicule, 1911), La sixième espèce que je viens de décrire, a été racoltée par Mr. SMITH dans l'île de Batjan et a été cultivée pendant quelque temps dans le jardin botanique où elle croissait très bien et dépuis s'est perdue. La description est donc faite d'après des exemplaires d'herbier. Comme on le voit facilement, l'espèce a beaucoup de rapports avec le H. ovatum MIQ. et peut être encore plus avec le H. tortuosum (voir BECC. tab. 37, fig. 3 et 4, qui sont à peu près identiques avec les miennes).
  4. Here is the translated version of the Hydnophytum spathulatum description: TABLE CCCXL. Hydnophytum spathulatum Val. n. sp. Rubiaceae. Fig. 1. Flowering branch. — Fig. 2. Part of a tuber section 1/4: — Fig. 3. Fructiferous node 3/1. — Fig. 4. Bud 6/1. — Fig. 5. Open flower corolla 6/1. — Fig. 6. Style 6/1. — Fig. 7. Dorsal and ventral view of stamen 10/1. — Fig, 8. Calyx 6/1. — Fig. 9. Drupe 5/1, — Fig. 10. Pyrene – dorsal surface and right side 6/1. Tuber oblong 25 cm long, 10 cm wide. Branches numerous, a half meter, twiggy, widely ramose, thin, internodes up to 25-35 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, tetragonal, with subacute angles. Leaves subsessile with articulate base, obovate-spatulate at the apex, gradually tapering at the base to a short petiole, coriaceous, becoming black when dry. Center vein prominent, lateral veins partly submerged, visible on both surfaces, about 4 on both sides. Flowers clustered, about 5 mm high, nesting in axillary cushion-shaped tubercles, with very short membranaceous bracteoles at the base and surrounded by reddish hairs. Calyx is small, cupular, membranaceous, covered with scattered short red hairs. Corolla small, dry, 5 mm long, lobes oblong slightly shorter than the tube. Anthers erect, sessile, very narrowly ovate-oblong, blunt at the apex, notched at the base. Fauces densely barbate at the point of insertion of the anthers with clusters of soft hairs, covered between the anthers with dense hairs, long but not extending above them. Style very elongated, filiform, thicker at the upper 1/3 (in inflexed bud), stigmas short and papillose. Drupe small obovate-globose, narrow at the apex. This markedly new species belongs to section ***B of BECCARI (see Malaysia II, page 124, Tables 32, 34, 27), a section well characterized first of all by the semi-nested in the axillary tubercles, surrounded at the base by bracteoles that are considerable at times, and covered with reddish hairs both on the calyx and on the bracteoles; also, by the obovate pyrenes rounded at the top. BECCARI described three species of this group: H. tortuosum Becc., H. petiolatum Becc., both from New Guinea, and H. ovatum MIQ. from the island of Ternate. I have already added two new species: H. bracteatum VAL. and H. Kochii VAL. (see New Guinea part VIII, third volume, 1911). The sixth species that I have described was gathered by Mr. SMITH in the island of Batjan and has been cultivated for some time in the botanical garden where it grew very well despite its being damaged. Therefore, the description is based on herbarium specimens. It is easy to see that this species has much in common with H. ovatum MIQ and maybe even more with H. tortuosum (see BECC. table. 37, figs. 3 and 4 that are nearly identical with mine). [above is pages 129 and 130 combined]
  5. Hi all, I like the chances of this being H. spathulatum. The tell is going to be in the flowers with bracts in the enlarged nodes and with short red hairs on the calyx. I can't see these well enough in the photos. You should be able to tell with a good hand lens Satoshi. Here is the page of photos from the description of Hydnophytum spathulatum that Derrick cited in the above post. The labels for the numbers on the photo is in the next message after the photo. Frank
  6. Hi Andreas, Back up at message #10 in this thread you asked what temperature I was growing my Solanopteris at. I told you low 60s F at night and estimated day time as no more than low 80s. Since then I have put a thermometer in the growing chamber and I can now say with certainty that daytime temperatures are only 10 to 12 degrees above nighttime - low 70s. Frank
  7. Thanks Andreas, I grow them in large terrariums with a room humidifier inside running all day long on a low setting. Humidity stays about 80%. A muffin fan moves air, again only during the day. A half inch offset to the glass lid on one end to vent. They are in my basement so night time temperatures drop to 59 winter or about 63/65 summer. I have never checked day time temperatures in the terrarium but with the lights outside the glass top I doubt if it gets above low 80s at the most. The turning point to having them thrive was when I went to a very complex, homemade epiphyte mix for them. Something around 40% long fiber sphagnum, about 20% coconut husk pieces (soaked 3 different times to desalt), about 20% tree fern pieces that I cut into roughly 1/2 to 1 inch squares, some charcoal, some perlite and some fir bark pieces like orchid growers like to use. Before this complex mix I used just long-fiber sphagnum. I think the plants like the more open nature of this new mix.. I only fertilize when they start growing new stems and leaves and again when they start making the tubers. Frank
  8. Here are some photos of a plant I grew as Solanopteris brunei. I found it needed high humidity and would only make the modified stem tubers when it was getting very good light. The plants would grow well for a while but eventually weaken and need to be restarted from cuttings
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