Dell raises a very interesting point. How different are the Eurasian glads from the African glads? Boyce, I presume the Rep. of Georgia glads look more like G. imbricatus rather than like byzantinus or italicus? I seem to vaguely recall having seen somewhere once that some cultivated glads are thought to have originated from a Eurasian species X African species cross. I believe the Eurasian glads have 2n=80, maybe? According to Goldblatt & Manning, both G. oppositiflorus salmoneus and G. saundersii have 2n=30. I have here, perfectly hardy outdoors in the ground (bar mice!), the Eurasian species GG. communis byzantinus, "caucasicus," imbricatus, illyricus, and italicus. The G. "caucasicus" looks like G. imbricatus to me, but are hardier here than Janis Ruksans' G. imbricatus. The G. imbricatus/caucasicus require chilling to germinate their seeds AND the bulbs must be chilled to get them to grow in the spring after their winter dormancy. I have G. oppositiflorus salmoneus that have survived several winters outdoors in the garden here, but that depended on the location and the soil. Not all the batches of G. o. salmoneus made it. In an unimproved clay bed, they lasted only one winter. G. x-gandavensis has lasted quite a few winters in the same bed. G. dalenii perished in a couple spots where it was tried (clay bed, raised rock garden bed). I tried crossing G. saundersii (in pots) X G. oppositiflorus salmoneus (in the ground) but did not seem to get much in the way of seeds. Maybe I should try again. Their blooms overlapped here in August last summer To cross a Eurasian species (bloom in late spring/early summer) with an African species (bloom late summer/early autumn), I'll have to get organized and store pollen. "Getting organized" can present a huge inertial barrier. Jim Shields in central Indiana (USA) At 01:35 PM 3/6/2007 -0500, you wrote: >Hmmm. Maybe species names like "byzantinus" and "italicus" should have been >a tip off. > >I still would like to know how they got there and if there are still any >species in between, geographically. > >Dell ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA