Roger Whitlock asked "Does any PBS list subscriber grow any particularly distinct form of C. speciosus other than the white?" Had I asked that question, Roger, I would have asked "other than the white ones". In this garden there have been three white-flowered forms of Crocus speciosus. The one which has been here the longest has the largest flowers of the three. It is probably the white flowered form of the plant once grown under the name Crocus speciosus 'aitchisonii'. This form 'aitchisonii' was/is noted for very large flowers of indifferent color and with pointed tepals. A second one, this one the plant now commercially available from several sources, has flowers very much like the first one - pure white - but a bit smaller. The third one has white flowers which if examined carefully show a faint flush of a darker color. It's the sort of color which a certain school of garden writing is apt to describe as "skim milk" or "ashes of roses" and so on. I share your exasperation over the very loose application of names to these plants. Part of the problem may be our mistaken expectations. What I mean is that we may be expecting plants whose flowers look different when in fact the main differences in some of these cultivars may be bloom time. But in years of buying these names I've never formed a firm opinion of what a given name should bring. Several years ago from a British supplier I did receive plants of 'Oxonian' which gave large, shapely dark "blue" flowers which were very handsome and distinct. I would not want to be in the business of trying to supply these forms true to name: they seed so prolifically that maintaining clonal stocks would be very difficult. I think this is a case where the buyer can expect to be disappointed when buying these cultivars from brokers. Buy, if possible, from the grower - then at least you know with whom you can discuss the discrepancies. Two more recent cultivars or forms, the 'Aino' mentioned by Jim Waddick and the subspecies xantholaimos are offered; repeat orders of these seem to bring the same item, so these stocks are still probably relatively pure. 'Aino' is presumably a clone and so should not vary much; xantholaimos, which corresponds to a wild population, might prove variable. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where today I collected a pointy-tepalled form of Crocus kotschyanus from a local garden. My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/Bulletins/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/