Mark McDonough wrote: "When will the horticultural industry finally give up on the silly misnomer A. "cowanii", which is really A. neapolitanum. It was just a horticultural "faux pas" which persists and persists." Mark, aren't there really at least two separate issues involved here? If, as you say, the plant known as Allium cownaii and A. neapolitanum are conspecific, that is one issue. Most sources I've used have acknowledged this for a long time. However, there is another aspect of this from our perspective as gardeners: over and over I've seen the statement that Allium cownaii is a taller plant than A. neapolitanum. If growers suddenly decide to be correct in nomenclature, then the distinction between the tall form and other shorter forms will be lost. The fact that growers have maintained this distinction for a long time suggests that many growers believe that, from a horticultural point of view, it's an important distinction. To tell the truth, I've never been sure what it is I've grown over the years. The plants I've received under the name Allium neapolitanum have varied enough to suggest that some sort of monkey business is going on. Some have been short, some have been taller, some have had smooth green leaves, some had had leaves with short hairs, some have smaller individual flowers than others ... With respect to the name Allium cownaii, maybe the reason this name persists is that it is not simply a horticultural faux pas, it is a validly published name. That circumstance is in itself no good reason to use it, but it will never go away and will always be part of the literature. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where we're headed for the low 80s F today. My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/