There has been a lot of conjecture and incorrect information repeated on this discussion group about the conservation status of this taxon; so it is my hope that this message can help prevent more misinformation from being disseminated. This plant is NOT extinct in the wild and has been collected as recently as 2008 in the northern part of the Mexican state of Guanajuato near San Luis Potosi. It was found at an altitude of 2400 meters in pine-oak forest in a disturbed area along the side of a road. The person who collected the specimen (a professional botanist) told me that *Cosmos atrosanguineus *was fairly common at the new locality and not as rare as internet information sources would have you believe. The type specimen is from the neighboring state of Hidalgo, so this species evidently has a fairly large distribution. The plant should be in bloom right now in its natural state in case anyone wants to look for it. Since this is a public forum, it is impossible for me to give more precise locality information other than what I already provided. I am unsure as to the reasons why more clones are not in commerce, but if the plant is self infertile then there is a strong economic incentive for the companies cloning the plant and commercializing it to keep it that way. I think it's only a matter of time before new genetic material becomes available to collectors. However, clarifying the "urban myth" that the plant is extinct in the wild and that all known genetic material originated from one clone will undoubtedly take much longer. In my personal experience, many plants that are extremely rare and declared to be "extinct" in the wild almost always turn up after careful searching of the type habitat or similar ecological niches nearby. I have seen this happen many times with rare bulbous species and orchids. It is very difficult, but certainly not impossible, to completely extirpate a plant species and any pronouncements of a species' demise are often exaggerated or premature.