Joyce, This info is of very high value to me. I work in the native plant industry and collecting and storage of seed is critical. And knowing the seed longevity is of primary concern. If I read you right, these seeds were over 10 years old in most cases. In some cases nearly 20 years old. Is that right? From an ecological point of view, this says much about soil seed reserves too. Thanks for sharing. Ken Alpine WildSeed ISPcowboy.com Ellensburg, WA > Hi Plant Friends, > > This afternoon I checked 15 pots of old Lilium sp. seed > that had been sown October 2006. They were plunged on the south side > of my greenhouse and covered with fir branches as protection against > hungry birds. I am not certain of their source, but I think the > most likely source was from the Sonora County Chapter (California) of > North American Rock Garden Society . The chapter had a box of > undistributed NARGS seeds. I knew at that time I was moving to "God's > Country" i.e. Gresham, Oregon. Gresham is just to the east of > Portland, Oregon, in the Willamette Valley. As such it is pretty > good Lilium territory. I sampled heavily of Lilium species. I > noted the seed packets were identified by location so concluded they > had been wild collected. Notice the dates on the germinated > pots. Pretty amazing. > Liliumhumboltii9-14-89 > Liliumhumboltii9-18-89 > Liliumhumboltii9-8-95 > Liliumhumboltii9-28-91 > Liliumhumboltii9-28-91 > Liliumparvum8-27-93 > Liliumparvum1990 > Liliumparvum9-8-90 > Liliumrubescense1990 > Liliumrubescense8-19-90 > Liliumwashingtonianum9-15-90 > Liliumwashingtonianum minor?9-27-90 > > Joyce E. Miller Gresham, Oregon USAUSDA 7 >