Pink Cypress Vine, Ipomoea quamoclit

I have a question about a fairly mundane little morning glory, but one that seems elusive, at least for me so far - the PINK Cypress vine.

I have ordered seeds for PINK cypress vine from several sources over the years, reputable companies, people on ebay, etc. and it doesn't seem to matter where they come from I always get white, red and pink mixed blooms - not JUST PINK.

Is this inevitable to always happen or are these seeds just crossed when they were growing because they were growing red and white bloomed vines close to the pink ones? Or does this happen because the pink is itself a hybrid between the two so it will always have some vines revert back to the parentage?

I don't have time to go out and pick off the white and red blooms every day to keep the pink ones 'true', so what I was wondering is has anyone here actually grown PINK Cypress vines that did not have red and white blooms mixed in with them? If so, could you tell me where you got the seeds for them?

Thanks for any info you can provide!

Onalee

Still a pretty picture..
I grow the red and white ones.. and can't figure out why I'm not getting pink ones yet... it's been years of growing them together..OH..I guess I haven't grown each and everyone out though..
I was wondering about the pinks.. hope we can figure out pinks with someones help.. thanks... Gordon

Hi Onalee - Good question and I wish I had an exact answer for you but I don't...
simply have not had enough focused experience with the 'pink' I.quamoclit yet...
although it is my impression that the pink is not the result of a cross between the red and the white but a 'different' type of dilution of the red...
which is why some of the pinks have a darker reddish star and some have no mid-petaline star >being more dilute...i.e., what is seen as the lavender-pink is actually already present as a sort of 'undercoat' colored pigmentation on the red colored ones...

I might have some stabilized all pink ones in my I.'quamoclit' stock 'somewhere'(?!?)...maybe do some more focused growouts which will inevitably yield the answers...


TTY,...

Ron

Hi Onalee,

You have dmail. Karen

Hi,
It might be that pink in cypress vines might work like pink in four o'clocks and snapdragons, eg it is a mix of red and white genes. The way to confirm this would be to hand pollinate red with white, and see what you get, if all of the progeny are pink, then color inheritance (for red, white and pink) in cypress vines is of the incomplete dominance sort, as in the other plants I mentioned. Alternatively, if selfed pinks give about 50% pink, 25% red, and 25% white offspring, then again incomplete dominance is the mechanism of inheritance. If this is true, then there cannot be any purebreeding pinks by definition. Other gene pairs can influence things like patterns, tones, etc independently and in addition to the pair controlling red/white/pink.
However, if there are pink strains that do breed true as alluded to in Ron's post, then some other type of color inheritance is probable. Sounds like an interesting project to figure out what exactly is going on.
Ernie

Onalee,

That might work well and be a simple no headache way if you could grow a pink one by itself with no other colors around. Then gather and grow out the seeds. At least 30 seedlings grown out from the F2 would tell a lot about the color inheritance. I think it would make a nice thread if you could share with us!

Karen

Hi,
I guess that's what I'll try to do. I've ordered some more 'pink' seeds from a seller on ebay that ASSURES me that they were not crossed with other colors. I'll plant just a few far enough apart that if one blooms and is NOT PINK I can immediately pull it out and just grow on the ones that are pink. Then, take those seeds and plant them and see what happens. Luckily, these do bloom pretty fast, so I can probably do all this in one summer. Of course, if all the ones I plant do come out pink, then I think that would tell me something, too. I'll let you know what I find out.

thanks for everyone's input

Onalee

I don't have an answer just a .02 to add. I had these growing on a large stump in my backyard last year. I loved them.

Anne

I just found some old seeds marked pink. I'll grow some out too and save them if they are pink. If you want to try some more I'll share some.

I collected a ton of seeds and am sure that I'll have some volunteer that I didn't get. Thank you though.

I've got 3 cuttings last month from my brother in law when he arrived from his exotic trip to Tobago, I´ve got life in one of the three cuttings until last week, when even the 3th one died, how sad, It have very very awesome leafs. Haven´t seen seeds to this beauty in -Sweden, wonderful pic in the top.
Sylvia

I wouldn't think that cuttings would work, though that's just a guess. Can you get seeds in Sweden from US?

luvsgrtdanes - If your blooms come out all pink I'd love to do a trade for some of your seeds next summer - let me know!

I don't think that cuttings will work, either.

Thanks!
Onalee

Yes Auntanne, I have trade with several and bought from Ebay without now problem. It is okay to get seeds from US.
Sylvia

I'll keep you posted Onalee...

I'm pretty sure that I still have some seeds. I will look this evening to be sure. If you would like some send sase once I'm sure that I have them.

Anne

Hi AuntAnne I´m not sure what sase is, but if I shall guess, I think you mean an answerletter with stamps, but it´s not possible for me in Sweden I can´t get american stamps, sorry. Do you have paypal?
~Sylvia

No no paypal, Swedish stamps should do wouldn't they? I used stamps bought in Mexico to send to the states when I visited there. Sorry I'm kinda clueless about European ways. I'm a Spanish teacher, ask me about Spain (yes I know it's in Europe), Mexico, Central or South America. lol

No Anne
you cant use Swedish stamps when you send post from USA to Sweden the US post will not accept to send a lett from US to Sweden with a Swedish stamp, Then US NOT have get paid for send post, It is the swedish post which get pay for the american post to send the letter if we do so, if you understand.
But anyway now I have lay a bid on Ebay for both white and red Cypress vine.
But thanks anyway.
Sylvia

Oh ok, got it. I'm not thinking too straight today. lol

Anne

Onalee . . . last year I grew a mix if the I. quamoclit, and in the mix were some pink/red tie-dye blooms. I tagged and bagged a few of those blooms, and kept those seeds separate. Ron says the bi-color is unstable, and the seeds usually produce pink or red. I was going to grow those out at my mom's place. Since you're looking for pink only, I'll pull which vines produce red, and keep only the pink - if that will help you.

Ok, NOT the best picture enlarged . . .



This message was edited Feb 15, 2008 7:07 PM

Hi Syrumani,
Thanks - I appreciate it. I tried growing out some of the striped ones in the past. They were growing wild at my neighbor's farm - no other color was there, just stripes. I harvested the seeds and, although some came back striped, most came out red. I don't know if you could ever get that gene stablized to produce the stripes consistently.

Onalee

The enzymes(!) that are responsible for enabling or disenabling the pigments (as I have emphasized in previous threads/posts) can be very finicky and are sensitive to a wide variety of environmental factors...and so the same exact seed that produces a pink with red striped blossoms in your yard may produce simply all pink in someone else's yard...

TTY,...

Ron


This message was edited Feb 19, 2008 8:44 AM

Enzymes or no, it may not matter.

There is a mouse in my garage! I had planted the seeds from the bi-color blooms in some peat pots, and they were just starting to break thru . . . I moved them into the garage under the light last night, and look what I found this morning!

Darned mouse! Here's what I saw first . . .

And here I thought the occasional sprout I lost was due to some bug or something . . . it was a hungry critter!

DH and I bought some mouse traps (no kill), and just set them out. If we can catch the little guy, we'll set him loose in a field outside our subdivision.

I doubt the seedlings in that pot will survive, but we'll see. There were another 3 seeds in another peat pot, so well see what happens if I move the shelf up a row.

That couldn't have POSSIBLY tasted GOOD! Why would the stupid think eat your peat pot! I think you should be feeding your mice better - they must be very hungry to eat that!!

;-)

Onalee

Well, I did put out some peanut butter, but it hasn't taken a bite yet. Maybe the peat gave it a stomach ache!

Maybe it expanded some more in his belly!!! OUCH!!

Nichole - Did you water with any fish emulsion(?)...as sometimes that can encourage animals to chew the medium to get a taste of the fish...

TTY,...

Ron

No. Up to this point it was either strait water or a mixture of peroxide/water. I try to wait until seedlings are bigger before I use anything else.

It's only February, and I feel jinxed already . . .

But, I'll grow more from the I. quamoclit mix you sent Ron, and maybe I'll find more bi-color blooms to save the seeds from to grow out next year.

This message was edited Feb 24, 2008 9:52 PM

Hello to all I have notice an interesting think, I´ve got seeds to pink Cypressvine and I´ve bought seeds to red and white on Ebay.
Now the interesting thing:
I put first the white into water and then soil, they sprout after 3 days and
looks like this.

White flower is = green seedling?

And here are the new seedlings on the way on the Pink Cypressvine
look at the color, more pink then green dont ya think

One more

I be back when the red one has sprout.

This message was edited Mar 4, 2008 4:37 PM

Hi Sylvia,

Noteworthy observation...

The initial coloration of the cotyledons is often related to the intensity of light that the seeds were exposed to when developing on the parent plant...very pale cotyledons have may be the result of the chlorophyll stored in a different form...pale cotyledons can also just be chlorophyll deficient and the reddish color is chlorophyll related that eventually turns green...

The general rule of thumb is that if the seeds were exposed to intense light during development they will tend to sprout better exposed to very bright light and if the seeds (while on the parent plant) developed in a darker location on the parent plant that was not exposed to intense light then the seeds tend to germinate better in darkness...as this phenomenon is related to the various light and dark activated germination stimulators and the different forms (i.e., light and dark activated and pre-active states ) that the chlorophyll can be stored in...

The different forms of light or dark activated chlorophyll as stored in seeds is a diversity survival mechanisms designed to insure that the varied conditions of seed development will be prepared for corresponding germination lighting conditions...as even seemingly slight advantages in germination requirements can make a big difference to the survival of plants over a long period of time...

So,the different cotyledon colors you are observing may be related to the amount of light that the seeds were exposed to on the parent plant...or perhaps there is a consistent corresponding cotyledon color difference (across the board) directly related to the flower color...something worthy of continued observation...(!)

Hope that helps (at some point)...

TTY,...

Ron

Very interesting observation, Sylvia! Please post photos of the blooms and let us know if the flower colors matched up to the cotyledon colors.

Yes I will came back with pictures of the flower and the seedlings, it will be exciting to see if the turn pink, red and white as they shall.
When I heard that it´s difficult to get pink Cypressvine
But I think that Ron have right, now I see the pink vine turn to green also.
I´ll be in touch
Sylvia