Pat, the differences are that, generally, with commercial Regales the chances of them being monkeyed with by some commercial hybridizer along the way is quite probable. There are generally three main areas of difference: Generally, the Species version is more apt to have a shorter, more compact, umbrella type flower head where a commercial version flower head is generally taller, less compact and shaped more like a pyramid or pine tree. The second difference is that the Species version generally forms numerous baby offsets quite rapidly whereas generally the commercial versions do not. And, third, commercials are less likely apomictic, a feature we talked about yesterday. Notice I say ''generally' a lot because there can be variation with each, such as you will find some Species L. regale with somewhat of a pyramid flower head form, but rarely. There is nothing wrong at all with buying a commercial type Regale for a mixed garden lily or for hybridizing as long as it is from a reputable grower/source. Beware of those 'pretty, glossy', wholesaler/importer catalogs.
The same principles of pollination we talked about yesterday would apply to the Trumpets African Queen and Golden Splendour. They are real easy to do. Both African Queen and Golden Splendour are interesting because their ancestry can be traced. Luther Burbank was the first to develop a yellow Regale. He gave some bulbs and seed to LaVern Freiman who developed it further. He, in turn, sold some bulbs to Jan de Graaff who developed it into a series of of yellow gold Regales over time which led up to the Golden Splendour we see today. They are long lived and very garden hardy lilies.
