Hi there, Firstly, a few words of introduction as I'm new to the list. As Mary Sue, I am also a member of IBSA and attended the recent conference in South Africa. I'm a keen grower of South African bulbs, living in England, where most of them are grown under cold glass. My main interests in this area are Oxalis, Amaryllids (particularly Nerine), Ferraria and the strange tuberous species of Pelargonium found in Section Hoarea of that genus. I've been reading Mary Sue's pieces on the conference and thought that I might add a few notes. Firstly, on Oxalis. The last major taxonomic work on the South African part of the genus was carried out by retired Paymaster-Captain Salter of the Royal Navy, who lived for many years in Cape Town, his hobby being to work on Oxalis. In 1944 he published his major work "The Genus Oxalis in South Africa - A Taxonomic Revision". This was published by The Cape Times under the Authority of the trustees of the National Botanic Gardens of south Africa, Kirstenbosch. In the book he points out that his field work has been limited to the South West of that country and that he has had to rely on herbarium samples for the rest of the country. However, as most of the species occur in the area studied, he does not feel that it too difficult an issue. He also points out that studying live material is particularly important as crucial elements of the analysis depend on floral structures and root-systems, which are not normally available in herbarium samples. He adds that "It is, perhaps, not generally realised that only a proportion of the existing forms are yet known. The genus is one of the most prolific in South Africa, both in quantity and variety, and all collectors of Oxalis, including myself, have only explored a small fraction of the huge and often somewhat inaccessible areas in which this genus abounds, areas in which, during the main Oxalis season (mid-winter) there is little else to attract a botanist." In his revision, he divides the genus into eleven Sections, consisting of some 202 species. As Mary Sue says, there is a South African botanist currently working on a revision of the genus. She is Dr Leanne Dreyer, who I was lucky enough to meet a few years ago. I believe that, at the time, she was working on her Ph. D. thesis, which was based on her re-examination of Salter's work by means of pollen morphology. She was brought to see my collection by Prof. Charlie Stirton, at that time Director of Research at RBG Kew. Before he left South Africa he had considered carrying out a revision of the genus and, to this end, had collected a great deal of material. Sadly, when he left, he had to leave the collection behind at Stellenbosch. Of course, its worth adding that a major part of the genus is in the Americas. There various parts are given within individual countries local flora, where they exist. There was talk at one time that Prof. Alicia Lourteig was intending to produce a revision of the genus overall. However, I believe that is no longer the case. A colleague of mine, Richard Clifton, has produced an overall species checklist of all of the species that he has been able to "identify" i.e. trace, as part of his series of checklists on the family Geraniaceae (yes it was located there at one time!). At this level, the system soon seems to fall into chaos. Few botanists have tried to pull together an overall picture of Oxalis and those that did, all did so a long time ago. Knuth (the top man on Geraniaceae historically, as part of Das Planzenreich, 1897/1930) reckoned 7 genera in the family Oxalidaceae and this was agreed by Lawrence (1969). However Hutchinson reckoned 3 genera and the RHS says 6. If you add on the other odds and ends that are floating around there may be 8 or 9. If we can't even agree on the genera in the family, its difficult to believe we can agree on anything else! In any event, there are several hundred species shown in the book, although I don't have the patience to go through it to add up just how many! To pick up on one of Mary Sue's other points, dormancy in Oxalis. Most of my South African species are just coming into leaf and flower now. Indeed, the first species came into flower on 10th September, a few days after I returned from South Africa. It was brought into growth by watering on the day of my return. The rest are following quickly. Virtually all of them will have flowered by Christmas time and will be returning to dormancy early in the new year. So, most of them will be dormant for six months or so. Finally, a question. Has the list ever thought of having Pelargonium Section Hoarea included on the wiki? ( and by the way, what on earth does wiki stand for?). They are great geophytes! Best regards, David Victor