Mark McDonough wrote: “Seems to me we're splitting hairs on a made up word, as ingenious the "word" may be. The term "oporanthy" was also used... here again, presumably another made up word as I can find no reference to it anywhere.” Mark, the reason you cannot find a reference to these words elsewhere is that you are witnessing their birth right here on the PBS discussion list. And the reason that we’re splitting hairs is the same reason which often enlivens much postpartum discussion: we want to be sure who the parents are! And whether you realize it or not, you are a participating midwife. What nuance do you mean to convey by referring to oporanthous as a “word” and “made up”? The existence of words and their first usage are coeval. Their survival is another matter entirely! The point is, there exists a loosely limited group of bulbs (in the horticultural sense but of course including corms and other geophytic growths) for which the term oporanthous bulbs is particularly apropos. That such a group exists in the minds of gardeners is demonstrated by the quick response which came from John Grimshaw - his deft use of the term hysteranthous to identify these plants makes it clear to me that he understood immediately what I was proposing. And when I say that your wonderful onions might be oporanthous but are not oporanthous bulbs, the important distinction is not simply that they are or are not bulbs but rather that they are not hysteranthous. And what’s wrong with “made up” words? Weren’t all words ultimately “made up” by someone? John’s use of oporanthy is both expected and fully consistent with standard word usage. To quibble about these forms is little different than those spell-check programs which do not recognize the plurals or possessive forms of words. Surely one would not avoid a word simply because it is not authorized by some spell-check program? The use of quotes on the word "word" seems so arch. When children learn words, most learn them one by one. As their language skills improve, they learn how to form and relate the various forms a word can take. To any skilled user of the language, the existence of the basic form is an invitation to exploit the full panoply of forms – not all of which make it into the standard dictionaries. Oproanthous, oporanthy. oporanthic, oporanth... is it really necessary to explain these and the many other related forms once the basic concept is understood? Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where most of my oporanths are not up yet. My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/