Brugmansia Strybing 'Vulsa'

Pictured is the first bloom of a Brugmansia Strybing 'Vusla' variety that I was extremely fortunate to obtain from Michael Graupe, of Pacifica, CA. Today, Dec. 21, 2010, is the first day that the flower has opened as a gorgeous salmon orange with yellow undertones. 'Vulsa' is a hybrid of Brug. sanguinea and Brug, vulcanicola. According to Tom Hulse, the current ICRA Registrar for Brugmansias, 'Vulsa' refers to any hybrid of these two cool-growing Brug. species. Apparently there are many actual crossings involving different varieties of either species and also includes 'Vulsa' sibling crosses , so that the exact parentage and even the amount of each species present in any 'Vulsa' is currently in a state of confusion.

In any event, this Vulsa appears to be fairly representative of the original Vulsa(s) bred and named as San Francisco's Strybing arboretum. They tend to open in a salmon-orange color and become pinker with age. It is possible, perhaps even likely, that this is one of the original Strybing Vulsas.

Tom Hulse originally contacted me following my posting of what I referred to as an outstanding fully red Brug. sanguinea I found in Mendocino, CA.

[see: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1131139/ ]

He pointed out that this variety, sometimes referred to as Brug. sanguinea 'Inca Queen', is also suspected as being a 'Vulsa' perhaps with a high percentage of sanguinea in it's background. Regardless, there is no question in my mind that virtually all B. sanguineas, vulcanicolas and their Vulsa hybrids are lovely and highly desirable plants in the cool climates that they tend to thrive in.

I will follow up with other photos of this bloom as it changes over the next few days.

Allan

Here is another view of my Brugmansia Strybing 'Vusla' flower showing more of the yellow tones inside the trumpet.

Allan

Very beautiful! I love the color of both this one and the red you photographed in your previous link. I've wondered how cool weather brugs would do up in the Pacific Northwest.

Congratulations on your bloom Allan, its beautiful. I'm actually just recently retired as Registrar, so someone over at IBrugs is doing that now.
I did get a chance to see that red Vulsa in Mendocino on my way up the coast, and up close it actually does look very similar to another one labeled 'Inca Queen', so I think Michael Grupe's ID on that one is probably correct.
- Tom

Well grown Allan, you did a great job, she is beautiful.

Alan

Very nice - great color!

Thanks for all of your comments. I wish I could claim credit, but I feel most of that is due to Michael Graupe of Pacifica, CA, who was so kind as to share this gem with me.

I do have a couple of Brug. sanguinea seedlings that I purchased in the spring that are just now coming into bud. They should start blooming within a couple weeks. I hope to share photos of them on this forum.

Tom, I'm very pleased to hear that you have been able to visit the "Mendocino Brug" that I posted about a couple months ago and that there is now some consensus as to what variety it most likely is--i.e Brug. 'Inca Queen'. I'm also pleased to know that you've recently met with Michael and were able to exchange both plants and information.

Alan, thanks again for being such a great help to me after the post of the Mendocino Brug. You were the first to open my eyes to the potential of these cool-growing wonders from the Andes and some of what has been bred from them. I do hope that your waiting list for obtaining seeds from a couple of your crosses will eventually get around to me. Your breeding program is truly outstanding.

I can only hope that I've been anywhere near the amount of help and guidance in my long-time interest as an orchid grower and student to others just starting out as the three of you (Alan, Michael and Tom) have been in satisfying my own neophytic interest and curiosity about these cool-growing Brugmansia treasures.

Allan

I've got a few addtional pictures that all taken together give a better idea of what this 'Vulsa' is like. All were taken today (Thursday, Dec. 23). This one is of a different flower than I posted a few days ago. The light is also a bit different as we actually had partial sun for the first time in over a week. [All of these flowers fully developed in cloudy and rainy and very cool conditions.]

Allan

This message was edited Dec 23, 2010 11:23 PM

This picture, also taken today, is of the same flower posted on Dec. 21. It was taken at an angle looking downward at the flower.

I think it's noteworthy to point out that my camera's macro lens is a slightly wide angle lens. The result, compared with with the naked eye or a longer lens, is that it tends to widen the foreground. Thus, a hanging trumpet flower looks somewhat wider at the opening when photographed from below and looks somewhat longer and thinner when photographed from above.

Allan

Lastly, and hopefully to make the point clearer, is the same flower as the preceding taken at the same time, but with the lens shooting directly from the side. This results in a photo of a trumpet that seems--to me--shorter than when shot from above and longer than when shot from beneath.

This effect of a wide angle lens is typically negligible for most flowers, e.g. roses, which are comparably wide and long (or deep). It's more significant for flowers like Brugmanisas, which are sometimes longer than they are wide. However, it can become a source of noticeable distortion for relatively long and narrow Brugs like sanguinea, vulcanicola and their hybrids, Vulsa.

Hopefully a professional photographer can explain this phenomenon in a more lucid fashion and also discuss how to best capture such flowers with the camera. The best I can do with my single lens camera to convey what the eye sees is to just present the flower from different angles and point it out. I hope this discussion makes some sense to most who've taken the trouble to read it.

Allan

Hi Allan
So glad to have been a little help in feeding your addiction/obsession.
You have produced some beautiful blooms on your first journey into Sphaerocarpium's, well done.
I fully agree with your explanation of lens distortion, for posting on the web I think the distortion is acceptable, for a more detailed/acurate discription then you have chosen well in photographing from multi angles. Maybe a measure/scale point included in the photograph would enable more accuracy.
Hopefully I will have a few seeds available after the festive period?
Shout up if your interested, I'm going to sell them on a first come first served basis!
Congrats again on producing the blooms Allan.
Regards
Alan

Allan, it's really beautiful! ♥

Breath-takinginly beautiful!

Congratulations,its a real beauty.