On 1 Nov 05 at 8:06, James Waddick wrote: > 1. Is there more than one clone of saffron? Just reasoning from general principles says yes, there are. Remember that saffron has been (is) grown as a crop across a wide swath of the earth's surface, from Spain and Britain in the west through to Kashmir in the east. I for one would be astonished if there weren't multiple clones in this broad stretch. Of course, much depends on just what you consider a "clone." There's a fair chance that all these plants are descendants of a single original seedling, but have varied during their millenia of vegetative propagation. Lemme think... lessee... <memory clanks like a rusty machine> Liberty Hyde Bailey devised the word clone (he spelled it "clon"). In "Hortus" (1930, the original) he writes "Clon. A variety or group or variation propagated only by asexual or vegetative parts... Clon is a horticultural rather than a taxonomic term." So there's room in that broad definition for sports and variations that arise in asexually propagated plants, as long as they are distinguished horticulturally. N.B. that Bailey's ur-definition is not particularly technical and doesn't concern itself with details. It's a very broad definition. > 2. Are there color forms of Saffron? See answer to 1. > 3. The plants sometimes sold by large commercial dealers as > 'white flowered saffron' is actually _____________(fill in the > blank) On p. 60 of Brian Mathew's "The Crocus" (1982) we read (ndicating italicization by /.../): "In recent years there has been some confusion over a fine white-flowered saffron Crocus cultivated and distributed under the name /C. cartwrightianus/ 'Albus'. The stock has originated from a collection made near Tripolis by the late O.E.P. Wyatt and is in fact a fairly typical /C. hadriaticus/ although it can now sometimes be found in literature and nurserymen's lists as the variety /chrysobelonicus/." That's almost certainly your white saffron crocus. > I have my thoughts, but let's hear from these list experts. Experts? Experts? No experts around here. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island