My Exotic Star that I bought on Saturday just opened today! Only 2 blooms on the stalk, so I am thinking it's a pretty young bulb. I am going to save pollen and see what possiblities I have. Maybe Dancing Queen?? OR, I have a beautiful white double (to be ID'd by the group). Or...could always self.
Kristi

Kristi, Exotic Star is in my experience a one scape 2 bloom bulb. It is not overly generous in it's blooms, but the ones she gives are wonderful. Also, I have found from my first year that it's pollen is not well taken. Good luck and show us your blooms. Don't you just love the freckles inside the veins?

Oh geeezzz Cindee, Exotic Star is a one big "?" for me with regards to pollination. LOL! I never had luck with my XStar bothways using dips and tets. It has a very pretty flower though. All I know about XStar is it's a decendant of Papilio and most probably be a diploid.

Elizabeth has more experience/positive results with XStar.

Here is RL X Exotic Star after waking up from it's winter nap a few weeks ago. Oh my, it's 13 months old from seed planting. It's bulb is as big as a dime now. Say hello to Mommy Cindee!!!
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Oh Maria, I am so jealous you got the only Ex Star seedling!! You must keep me posted. I am amazed at it's size already. Just my luck, the seed may have blown into the seed dish from another pod!!! lol Let's hope not! Way to go girlfriend. I guess if it has to have a surrogate mother, you are the best choice!

My Exotic Star gave me three scapes, two flowers on each, and as I see, this seems to be the trend - two flowers per scape.
Jodi, on the other hand, managed to have a special specimen of it that produced three and if I am right, four flowers on a scape...

Exotic Star appears to be Diploid, and thus you 'should' be more likely to have success with Diploid crosses.

I currently have one year old seedlings of the following:

Exotic Star X Misty
Exotic Star X La Paz
Exotic Star X Ruby Meyer

Misty X Exotic Star
Amputo X Exotic Star

Good Luck and Have FUN! Exotic Star is a beauty!!!

Well thank you Cindee! I really am taking very good care of this seedling for it is as special as you are to me. It was winter grown with the variegated striatifoliums under the lights. I really got scared when it started to lose it's leaves several months ago and I thought I killed it. It did rest for quite a while. I think this seedling will be a robust plant as both parents can grow huge. My "monster" Exotic Star is still resting inthe garage. It will be needing to be repotted to the next 2 size bigger pot!

Elizabeth...I will try again in pollinating my XStar once I wake it up. I have more fresh diploid pollens to use now. Hopefully, I'll be lucky this season.

Talking about resting... the PapilioXEmerald and PapilioXLa Paz seedlings have decided to rest...in SPRING! Go figure!!!

Oh Eliz, I have none of those possibilities in bloom now. BUT...I have my Magic Mix. Soultan told about mixing a bunch of pollens together. In my pollen mix there is Misty Trumpet, Striatum, Magic Green, Exotica and others Sumatra too, I think. I am going to give it a good dose.
By the way, I was thinking of you today. Do you remember when you sent me seeds? I seem to recall it was last year and I have 2 happiness x ? And then the Charisma crosses. I got to tell you, the Charisma crosses are fabulous! Very large from seed in just a year. I am ready to separate them. I have four and two are huge for babies.

Maria, I am counting on you girl, to keep that Ex Star going. Was this one I crossed with Red Lion? Or was it a selfing?

Without digging up my photos, I can't remember if I got 4 blooms on the one scape of Exotic Star, but I do know for sure that the second scape had 3 blooms!

I also had 3 blooms on the one Papilio scape, too! Must be something in the water! LOL!

I selfed Exotic Star, and got one giant pod... I haven't planted any of them yet, but I did send some to Xuan. Perhaps she can tell us whether or not they were viable.

Cindee - Your Exotic Star is gorgeous! And I really like that orchid... what type is it? Did I tell you I got a Cymbidium? Clenet Whispering, it's called, and it will have pinkish flowers when it blooms!

Elizabeth_jb,

I was wondering if your "Exotic Star X La Paz" has bloomed yet. Currently, I have "LaPaz X Exotic Star" seedlings, and I am trying to picture what the outcome might look like in terms of coloration, and flower shape.

EckoNC

"Exotic Star" is obviously one DIP! (I assume that it was generated out of crossbreeding H.papilio and H.neoleopoldii) - I received approx. 130 seeds when I dusted one single flower of H.papilio with pollen from my potted, newly purchased specimen of "Exotic Star" - and almost all of these seeds were intact, with plump embryos inside, and I received, as far as I an see, approx. 75% germination.
As to "Exotic Star" as mother (seed producer) I observed that it does show exactly the same behaviour as H.papilio (exactly: the worldwide distributed evergreen clone of this species amaryllis): Pollination with TETs - I used "Charisma" and "Showmaster" - resulted in the formation of seed pods, well-stuffed with many, many seeds - but these were exactly those same damned white spotted horror seeds without viable embryo...

I have used ES with very limited success. So far it worked only as a male. Here is the breakdown of what I did (last summer):

- Orange Sovereign X Exotic Star, 29 seeds, 3 germinated
- Fairytale X Exotic Star, 10 seeds, 1 germinated
- Charisma X Exotic Star, same cross twice, first one 18 seeds, 3 germinated. second try 43 seeds, 3 germinated.

These bulbs are 9 months old and the size of a golf ball or bigger and doing very well. What will they look like when they bloom?... Certainly a surprise!

Laurier
My web site

Haweha:

In my specific case, Lima X Exotic Star was successful, germination was > 90%. Below is a photograph of some of the seedlings, which I have left with one of their parent plants.

However, the outcome of Exotic Star X Lima was something similar to what you described: formation of seed pods carrying plenty of seeds with white spots/defects that were not able to germinate.

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Laurier:

I would certainly like to see the outcome of your Orange Sovereign X Exotic Star; I am curious to see if the Orange coloration is passed on, or thwarted, as well as the petal shape.

I attempted Exotic Star X Honeymoon, and Honeymoon X Exotic Star with no success, and will try again next season; I am hoping to transfer the strong fuchsia coloration of Honeymoon into the new hybrids.

In my previous message through a mistake of mine in my data base now corrected, I listed the crosses the wrong way and ES was successful as a female not as male as I previously indicated, sorry that I misled anyone.

I'm also very eager to see what will come out of these crosses. What is dominant and what is recessive is different when a plant is used as male from when it is used as female. Contrary as to what we have in other genera, when it come to hipp., nothing (or so very little) is known, we don't event know what the parents are and that is a major problem for a breeder. We have no idea either of what each cultivar can pass on or not, except maybe for papilio, we can only guess and that is too bad, and very bad for any breeder.

When my crosses will bloom, I intend to publish pictures of both parents and their progeny, so everybody can make their own idea and take notes if they want to for their own breeding program.

Laurier

Congratulations for your successful crossbreeding attempts with "Exotic Star" - I experienced with another Cultivar that the red spots were transferred to a high percntage into the progeny. Spotted flowers are always very spcial and very attractive.

As to "differential outcome" in reciprocal crossbreeding I have one example, and it does not confirm that presumption.
After crossbreeding H.papilio and "Pink Floyd" in either direction I received seedlings with rather conspicuous variability. But I could not detect a systematically differential appearance between the two groups of seedlings from the reciprocal crosspollinations.