Hi Jacob and all, I have some young Haemanthus coccineus seedlings that have hirsute and partially hirsute leaves. Since they are from my own seeds, I know the parents. The parents have smooth leaves but some hairs along the leaf margins in some cases. I would guess that the hirsute character is limited to the juvenile stages of H. coccineus. That does not prove that your seedlings are pure coccineus, however. It just allows for the possibility. A cross between H. humilis hirsutus and H. coccineus produced leaves with some hairs on both leaf surfaces, as well as narrow red margins on the leaves. Best wishes, Jim Shields in central Indiana (USA) At 08:50 PM 11/16/2007 -0800, you wrote: >Aloha bulb friends, > >I have some seedlings that were bought as seeds under >the name Haemanthus coccineus. They are very fuzzy on >both sides. > >I have grown many forms of this species and I realise >that it covers a wide geographical range and also has >considerable morphological variation, but I have never >seen any with any fuzz whatsoever. Perhaps they just >have the fuzz when in a juvenile stage or do I have >something that isn't really H. coccineus? > >Is anyone out there growing Haemanthus coccineus that >have hirsute leaves? > >Thanks for the advice in advance. > >Jacob Knecht >Honolulu, Hawai`i ************************************************* 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