On 30 Mar 05 at 14:57, Jim McKenney wrote: > ...in the Hoog list Jane cites, Golden Bunch is > described as a 'selection' of Crocus ancyrensis. What does this word > 'selection' mean? I'll bet that no one knows for sure. For instance, is > 'Golden Bunch' - to take one extreme of the many possibilities - one > particular clone of Crocus ancyrensis? Or -to take the opposite extreme - > does 'Golden Bunch' correspond to the non-clonal progeny of a > particularly nice seed-raised strain, perhaps from a localized, distinct > wild population of Crocus ancyrensis? > > > We may never know, in part because commercial propagation sooner or later > almost always comes to rely on the propagation of particular clones. What > we buy today may be clonal in nature, even if the original 'Golden Bunch' > was more in the nature of a seed raised strain. The selection was almost certainly clonal, and one of the primary characteristics distinguishing the clone selected would have been the freedom with which it multiplies vegetatively. Seed-raised bulbs simply aren't a viable choice for the mass market because they take too long to come into flower. An aside: I've been looking for years for erythroniums that form clumps, E. oregonum & E. revolutum specifically. Only once have I seen such a plant -- but as it was in an ecological reserve, I did not take any. A week later I went to the dark side, went back to the reserve, and found that someone else had lifted the entire clump, neatly disguising the hole with moss and litter. Quelle horreur! -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island