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THE KOMNA GENTIAN
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THE KOMNA GENTIAN
The plant kingdom
is highly interesting, whether we look at it through the eyes of an expert - a
botanist or just as an ordinary observer of Life around us … During observations,
we can find some exceptional plants, new sites of species, and new species
themselves. In botanical
gardens, several plant species grow close together in a confined space. Here,
some interesting hybrids can occur among related plants that only very rarely flourish
in the same place in nature. One of such exceptional plants thrives in Juliana;
it is called the Komna Gentian (Gentiana
x laengstii nsubsp. komnensis). Only
a single specimen of this rare natural hybrid was originally discovered on the
Komna plateau in 1957 by Dr Ernest
Mayer (1920-2009). He
assessed it to be a cross between a yellow-flowering Yellow Gentian and a
bluish-purple Pannonian Gentian, both of which grew close by. So far, there has
been no recent confirmation of hybrid cross-breeding in the natural
environment. In 2008, however, the
Komna Gentian suddenly appeared for the first time and bloomed also in Juliana,
near the entrance to the garden. It
is not known how the hybrid "came" into the garden, considering that
the Pannonian Gentian had not bloomed in Juliana for a long time. In
July 2020, the miraculous story was repeated yet again: the Komna Gentian
bloomed again even more lushly and reigned with the special colour of its flowers
over the rest of the flowers.
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The Komna Gentian (Gentiana x laengstii nsubsp. komnensis). Photo: Klemen Završnik
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The Komna Gentian (Gentiana x laengstii nsubsp. komnensis). Photo: Klemen Završnik
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The Komna Gentian (Gentiana x laengstii nsubsp. komnensis). Photo: Klemen Završnik
Credits:
Concept: Klemen Završnik, Martina Tekavec
Text: Klemen Završnik
Photo: Archive of the Bois de Chesne family, Tone Wraber, Klemen Završnik
Drawings: Samo Jenčič (dwarf Zoisy) in Carl Huck (Goldhorn)
Voice: Teja Malovrh Cigale
Reviewer: Špela Pungaršek
Language Editor: Henrik Ciglič
Sound editing: David Kunc
Slovenian Museum of Natural History, 2021