I am not sure about the non South African species of Albuca, but it is often difficult to differentiate our SA species from Ornithogalum species. In many the seeds are very similar (flat black discs) , the flowers are similar, and we cannot even decide which genus they should be in! John Manning gave us an interesting talk about them recently, and he and many other botanists are beginning to think that the 2 genera are muddled at present, and they need re-arranging. Some Ornithogalums are very different - eg O thyrsoides and dubium, which have tiny black seeds. But others are not. I think that DNA work on them has shown a big group of related species, and some more distant. So it sounds as though there may be a "lumping and splitting" in their taxonomy soon! There are quite a few uninteresting species, but there are also some beauties, and it is a pity to dismiss them all as "not worth growing". There are not many people in the Cape who grow them, and I feel they deserve more attention. I agree with Alberto - we discard all our seed after 12 months - the same with Drimias and Ornithogalums. None of them keep well. Regards Rachel Saunders Cape Town ----- Original Message ----- From: Alberto Castillo <ezeizabotgard@hotmail.com> To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Monday, July 07, 2003 2:00 PM Subject: [pbs] Albuca TOW > Dear Julian et al: > Excellent introduction as always, Julian. I would add > that seed of albucas has proved useless when old and I suspect that it is > among those genera that must be sown very fresh. On the contrary, fresh seed > will produce a whole 100% germination, often resulting in far too many > seedlings! > Albuca is a totally neglected genus and some of them like > clamwilliamigloria, spiralis and nelsonii are stunning plants. The > undisputed Albuca King is Frank Holford and he has grown Albucas for long > and even obtained very interesting hybrids. Perhaps the reason for this is > that we see in books and guides one or two species only, mostly flaccida (ex > canadense) that is not really breathtaking but variation within the genus is > great. > Regards > Alberto > > _________________________________________________________________ > Charla con tus amigos en línea mediante MSN Messenger: > http://messenger.yupimsn.com/ > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php