I think it's safer to say that Leucojum vernum 'Gertrude Wister' is multi-segmented, not double. It has extra segments inserted around the ovary and as I understand it, occasionally has 'fused' flowers so that there is a cleft through the united ovary, plus two sets of reproductive parts (rather like Galanthus 'Mrs Thompson'). It was first written up in the RHS Journal when it was a small, A5-sized volume, but as my copies are elsewhere I can't immediately look it up. In snowdrops there is a precise terminology to describe flower form, and this should be extended to Leucojum and Acis as more variation is discovered in those genera. 'Double' implies extra segments in the centre of the flower, creating a rosette. No doubles are yet known in Leucojum, although multi-segmented flowers are not uncommon. One sometimes hears the word double referring to two flowers on a scape, but this condition should be known as 'twin-flowered.' And for John Lonsdale, yes, bulbs from that source are 'Gertrude Wister'. John Grimshaw Dr John M. Grimshaw Garden Manager, Colesbourne Gardens Sycamore Cottage Colesbourne Nr Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL53 9NP Website: http://www.colesbournegardens.org.uk/ ----- Original Message ----- From: <JFlintoff@aol.com> To: <PBS@LISTS.IBIBLIO.ORG> Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 12:21 AM Subject: [pbs] lEUCOJUM VERNUM CULTIVAR > Jane > > The cv 'Gertrude Wister' occurred in the garden of the eponymous lady and is a double-flowered form. GW was a noted plantsman and wife of the famed John C Wister of Swarthmore College and its associated arboretum. > > Jerry John Flintoff