Jane, I don't think there is any significative difference between western and eastern Mediterranean populations of S. lutea. The truth is that S. lutea is a quite variable specie and many forms can be seen growing just side by side, in natural habitats. With a bit of immagination one can describe several forms, based on leaf width, length, presence or absence of the median pale stripe, narrow or wide tepals, presence or absence of leaves at the flowering. Some are naturally 'dwarfs' and they retain this feature in cultivation, no matter of soil or fertilizer, I do have that small from from Crete, which is just the same of some individuals I found here, and they stay small, whereas some forms are simply 'giants', with big flowers, broad leaves and very big bulbs. I will try to collect seeds from my best big plants to send to PBS next autumn. Angelo Porcelli Apulia- Southern Italy