> > Dear Sternbergia friends , > Here is a little report from South West Germany : > On this time flowering by me ( in my bulbframe ) : > Sternbergia lutea ( f. sicula ) coll. by me from Apulia / Italy , > I have send seeds from this plants to Dell before some days for the BX. > >From my other Sternb. lutea ( coll. by me from Sardinia ) only leaves, this > plants always comes later ( grows free in my garden). > My last Sternbergia ( clusii ) coll. from the Island of Samos, is always the > last - flowering in October or November ( (they grows free in my garden ). > Also flowering on this time : Narcissus serotoninus ( Apulia ) and Leucojum > ( roseum , autumanalis , valentinum ) > Best wishes > Johann > Zone 7a > D - 77972 Mahlberg > Germany ********* Dear Johann, Sternbergia sicula isn't considered a true species from some Italian botanists and in this case your expression S.lutea f.ma sicula would be more correct. But if so, this doesn't occur in Apulia, were you collected yor samples (do you remember the place, maybe?) but in Sicily and Greece. This is even more curious, because the S.lutea is well present in all Apulia but rare if nonexistent in the nearby regions of South of Italy (Basilicata, Calabria) which are the geographic connection between Apulia and Sicily. So, why the infamous S.sicula doesn't occur in Apulia is a mystery. Another observation now. Iris pseudopumila is a dwarf bearded iris endemic of Apulia and Sicily only, that is not present in the forementioned other regions. So this species shares roughly the same distribution of S.lutea in the South of Italy. Why it is not present in those regions is again obscure. Indeed, there's a reason, or better this is my guess. Apulia and Sicily share the same habitat of stony open grasslands, where both Iris and Sternbergia grow, while the other regions have more mountains and having more woodlands, these habitats aren't good for those plants. Also, Apulia is comparatively drier than the western regions of the same latitudes and thus more rich in geophyte flora. Back on Sternbergia, the sicula should differ in having pointed tepals and a lighter green to silver line on the middle of the leaf. But again this is not a consistent feature, because I have observe many times plants with pointed tepals and all have a more or less evident lighter median line. It is more reasonable to think that some population of Sicily and Greece grow in a more xeric habitat and have developed these features as fruit of the 'best fit' for that habitat and for these even and S.angustifolia is known, that is a form with even narrower leaves. This presumible form is often considered and hybrid between sicula and lutea and in the better of the cases it would be an interspecific hybrid, otherwise a cross between two forms or at worst just an extreme form of only one species. It is also said to be sterile, but I have some friends in Northern Italy which complain that their Sternbergia lutea don't set any seed. So, as this angustifolia form is often cultivated in northern countries such UK or France, I wouldn't be so surprise to see they don't set seed for the less suitable climate. Just to add further food for thoughts, in some small rocky islands offshore Sicily occurs Pancratium angustifolium, a little known species which differes from P.maritimum in having narrower leaves. It's easy to understand that this is a result of the rocky habitat instead of the sandy one of the normal maritimum. This topic would need better explanations but this is what I can do with my English, sorry. Angelo P.S. Is Narcissus serotoninus used to cure depression ? Apologise for the stupid joke :-)