Jane, although I agree, the main purpose in "namings" for many is simply to give the appearance of offering something new and wonderful (possibly honouring a person on the side!), often the variations do merit recognition on the horticultural level. As gardeners, we are acutely aware of robustness, variation in form and colour and cultural worthiness, while as botanist, such qualities are of little worth in identification or recognition on the specific or sometimes variatel/sub-species level. I, also, do not wish to spend money on an item that is identiacal to what I have, but variation and distinction I do appreciate. Fortunately, the best of suppliers will note that the entity offered may well not deserve recognition on a specific level, but is of interest to the gardener and maintaining true and pure stocks of the form is to lauded. A name is required for identification, whether botanically recognised or not. I believe we can all appreciate this situation, where does one draw the line? I've always appreciated the listing of Paeonia and Fritillaria species with collection information and form designations, even when associated to species nomenclature, as this allows me to organise what I am growing and keep an eye out for variation and lack there of! In a world ever more saturated by clonal forms on the commercial market, I long for the variation of wild forms. I guess this is why most of us take the long course and raise from seed. Ciao, Jamie V. Cologne > The name "F. wabuensis" does not appear at all on Martyn Rix's current list > of species. There are a great many names for CHinese frits of the "X"ensis > type, mostly set up by Y. K. Yang and colleagues, and most of these will > not be recognized in the classification to appear in the Flora of China. > They appear to involve primarily the groups represented by the familiar F. > tortifolia, F. cirrhosa, and F. delavayi, respectively. I suppose they're > local populations of one or another more widely recognized species. > Naturally, it is in the interest of bulb sellers to offer them under > unfamiliar names, so people will buy them thinking they're something new! > > Jane McGary > Northwestern Oregon, USA > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >