Chilean name for Tecophilaea cyanocrocus
Lee Poulsen (Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:20:20 PST)

On Jan 6, 2007, at 1:09 PM, Jim McKenney wrote:

Furthermore, even though it has been found again, I asked Osmani
Baullosa if he was planning to eventually offer seeds of it since he
seems to be finding and offering seeds of so many other Chilean
natives, including Tecophilaea violiflora that Jane mentioned, and
which was much longer in coming into my collection than T.
cyanocrocus. He told me that it was completely unavailable
commercially in Chile and that he had been saving money from his seed
sales to one day purchase a single bulb of each of the three main
varieties and attempt to import them. (So I sent him seeds of each
variety, which he says have germinated for him earlier last year, and
I've set aside a couple of bulbs of each type to send him after they
become dormant again.) (I offered them too late for him to attempt
switching hemispheres last summer.) US$15-25 per bulb, not counting
shipping and importation costs, is pretty outrageous for Chileans.
(And I'd say it's quite steep even for most people in the First World
too, unless they're crazy bulb people. But the color sure is amazing.)

Bottom line, I'd be surprised if anyone in Chile these days, other
than some botanists or hobbyists, knows of it by its scientific name,
let alone the common name it had back before it became "extinct".
Just my guess.

--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena, California, USA, USDA Zone 10a