Luc, I am not sure whether it is just me or not, but your last message (which I think would be of interest to me) came through as one huge paragraph, making it nearly impossible to read. I don't know if it is a formatting problem or not, but I do seem to from time to time have this happen with your postings (which is a shame as they're often so informative). Am I the only one that has this problem? Thanks. Cheers. Paul Tyerman Canberra, Australia. At 09:40 PM 29/04/2008, you wrote: >Hi all, I have been searching the web for more >information on the Oncocyclus of Israël and >Lebanon. Here is a summary of what I found. The >Iris section Oncocyclus comprise 10 species in >Israel and Jordan (see list below), all endemic >with limited and distinct populations. In 1998, >the Royal Iris project sponsored by the DFG and >common to Mainz University in Germany, The >Hebrew University in Israel and Bethlehem >University in the Palestinian Authority aimed to >reinforce the connections between three nations, >in addition to the conservation targets. The >project had four goals: recording and >conservation of all populations in Israel, >monitoring population dynamics, systematic >reviewing and pollination ecology research. The >main objective was to discover the relationship >between the Royal Irises’ special characters: >solitary giant flower, no nectar reward, dark >colour, and male bees lodging. The Royal Irises >are known as the first priority for conservation >in Israel. As a result the following species >were studied. For each species, the flowering >period is listed, followed by the distribution >and in parenthesis the best place to see wild >populations.    Iris lortetii - Beginning of >April - Upper Galilee - Shomron Mts. (Tel >Hatzor). Iris bismarckiana - March - Upper & >Lower Galilee (Dishon gorge, Givat Hamore). Iris >hermona - mid March - Central Golan Heights >(Mapalim crossroad). Iris atrofusca - mid March >to April - South Golan, Gilead Mts. Mts., >Shomron & Judea deserts, Arad to Beer Sheva (Tel >Arad, Haon escarpment). Iris haynei - March - >Gilboa (Gilboa - Mt. Barkan). Barkan). Iris >atropurpurea - mid January to February - Coastal >plain (Nes Ziona, Netanya Iris reserve). Iris >bostrensis - Second half of March - North Jordan >(Ramtha to Mafraq). Iris nigricans - April - >Moab Mts., Jordan (East to Kerak). Iris petrana >- April-March - Edom (Jordan); North Negev, >Yerucham to Dimona (Dana Nature reserve, >Yerucham Iris reserve). Iris mariae - Beginning >of March - Sand dunes of the Western Negev (Agur >dunes, Kibutz Magen).Agur dunes, Kibutz Magen). >Although many taxonomists dealt with this >section in the last 120 years, no quantitative research was ............. etc.