I may have been a bit hasty recommending seed propagation for Eucomis vandermerwei, but I started with seed and got a batch of about 80 flowering plants in the third year. These all set seed very well, so I had no idea that seed was otherwise not so freely produced. Perhaps it needs cross-fertilization. I noticed that my plants were abundantly visited by flies - the flowers are malodorous - and they may have effected pollination. Apart from the malodorous flowers it is a most charming plant. John Grimshaw >