Joe , et al, evolution and its understanding are absolutely fascinating. One of lifes great puzzles. As Joe mentioned, Linneaus did us a great wrong in many of his conclusions, but I do not see this as diminishing his work. He is a product of his times and was undoubtedly under political und religious pressures, whether he actually believed in them or not. Not important to this discussion group. One of the newer and definitly heretical theories on evolution is that of reticulation. I first came across this in my research of marine corals and their speciation, which is just as confusing, if not more so, as with terrestrial plants. Below are a few links that discuss this theory. Short composed, it supports the idea of hybridization in the creation of new "species". Again, challenging the idea that species are immutable entities, which most serious researches have long discarded. Essentially, we do not have a tree of evolution, rather a net of evolution (reticulate means netted). Various autart entities criss-cross through time and hybridize, often/eventually die out in their previous form and continue to evolve through mutation and further hybridization. The mechanism is largely controled via natural barriers, such as mountains, valley, seas, and in the oceans via changes in currents and moving land masses. For myself, this is a theory that fits well with what we see and experience in plants and animals; endless variation and close relationships. It, also, helps to explain the apparently disparate results currently reported from gene researchers (bacterial genes in the human genome! Very interesting and humbling (for us or the bacteria remains to be answered. LOL)). http://8e.devbio.com/article.php?ch=23&id=228 http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/91/10/1700/ http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/… There are many articles available on the internet, these are just a few that caught my interest. On the gardening side of life, we are experiencing one of the earliest and hottest (not to mention dry!) Springs on record in Europe. My garden is at least three weeks ahead with the first Hemerocallis blooming, which typically start the first week of June. I experienced a once in a lifetime event, Narcissus, tulips, Wisteria, tree paeonys, roses and daylilies all blooming together! Interestingly, most bulbs have remained on their normal schedule, only being a week earlier with the Alliums. Ciao für now, Jamie V. Cologne Germany