Bessera elegans

Eventually, a Herbertia publication in 1993 came up with an article written about Bessera in their native habitat. I was so excited, I read eagerly, soaking up every word, as if they were jewels I had just discovered, like some hidden treasure! Here is an exerpt from that article, with thanks to the author.

"As we crossed the central mountains of Mexico and headed southwest, our thoughts turned to Bessera elegans, whose flowers must be among the most exquisite of all in nature. We first found the plants along a microwave tower road about forty miles south of Mazatlin, where they were growing, as usual, in rocky soil with a well-drained slope aspect. At these latitudes and at such low elevations, July and August are sultry and humid and the summer climate matches the vivid green landscape. It's my idea of wonderful weather, but, more importantly, it is the only time of year to collect these or other bulbous plants with any ease, as most have their flowers out and you can see them readily while traveling at 50 to 60 miles per hour. Especially Bessera! Most commonly encountered are various red-colored forms of the species, some dull, others bright, all variable, especially in the patterning on the inside of the tepal segments. The coloring of the outside of the perianth, varying from pink, lavender and orange to various shades of red (one pure white form is known), is more or less solid and showy enough to attract attention.

But when one uprights one of the delicate, nodding flowers there is often a dazzling display of brightly colored lines against a pure, glistening white background surrounding the androecium, which contrasts markedly by having near-black anthers and blue pollen. A majestic, bright violet-purple form which is larger in all aspects occurs in the state of Colima, though there is marginal safety in parking on the narrow mountain road where it grows. At one locality in Sinaloa we found a small population of plants with both violet and red flowers but none with intermediate tones. Harold Moore (1953) made formal note, though he did not name them, of three distinct groups within Bessera elegans, each occurring within the overall range of the species but having comment-worthy discreteness in morphological characters. As was the case then, further collections and field work, as well as cytological studies, are much needed to determine whether B. elegans