The Genus Pleione

This monograph deals with the genus pleione and its hybrids. Pleiones have been cultivated in Europe for over a century and a half because of their attractive appearance and their relatively trouble-free cultivation. By the 1960s the limited number of distinct species in cultivation had led to a gradual decline in their popularity. The discovery of species new to science, the introduction of species not previously in cultivation, a greater variety of clones of well-known species not previously in cultivation, a greater variety of clones of well-known species and the advent of hybridizing in the 1970s has immeasurably broadened the range of pleiones in cultivation. The classification of pleione has never been easy and it has only recently become possible, with the introduction of new material into cultivation, and detailed analysis of the morphology, cytology and breeding behaviour of these plants. The authors present here an up-to-date classification of the genus in which they recogniz