Last fall I went through the seed stored in the refrigerator and sowed all of the lily seed I could find. There was a lot of it because I periodically stockpile seed. An accession of Lilium pumilum, received in 1990 (and presumably ripened in 1989 at latest) is giving strong germination. An accession of Lilium amabile from a year or two later is also germinating strongly, and an accession of Lilium philadelphicum (small, dubious seed at that!) from the same time period seems about to germinate freely. Several dozen lots of seed (one or two lots each of about three dozen lily species) were sown and with one exception all look good; as temperatures rise there should be loads of lily seedlings with which to play. I point this out for two reasons: old works treat lily seed as short lived - there was once the widespread belief that lily seed more than a year old was worthless. Furthermore, the seed lots in question were stored at room temperature, probably for several years, before they were refrigerated. I'm not sure when they were refrigerated; I've been refrigerating seed acquisitions systematically for perhaps a decade. And by refrigerating seed I mean storing it in the household refrigerator, not in the freezer (where it reputedly lasts indefinitely). This last aspect might make a good research project for someone: what happens in dry lily seed stored at room temperature for years during subsequent cold storage? Dry seed stored at room temperature will not usually germinate; seed stored dry for a few years and then stored dry and cold for long periods of time apparently will. I don't think I've ever seen that mentioned in the literature on the germination of lily seed. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where it's hard to get anything done because the contents of the several cold frames are so interesting right now.