I am impressed-- Luc, with the idea that you may have I. bismarckiana growing from seed. What was thte provenance of the seed? It was declared extinct at the original site at Crak des Chevaliers in Syria a few years ago, but I have some reason to believe that that report was premature. I bloomed a few plants from there back in about 1960 and have never forgotten the experience but could not keep them alive. The humidity alone in Illinois is high enough to guarantee their dying. I would regard seed from most other souces as not being I. bismarckiana, even if appearing to satisfy the botanical key. It is easily confused with I. hermona. Dear Adam, As I said in?my previous post I can't guarantee that I have a true I. bismarkiana. I got the plants from a friend who was runing a nursery a few years ago and stopped business for a while. When I got them they were two years seedlings... I kept one for myself and planted it in full ground - while a gave the other plant to a friend who has one of the French national collection of botanical Irises. I have no idea of the origin of the seeds but I know that the guy I got the plants from was in contact with the Jerusalem Botanical garden. This might be the source of the seeds. He is now back in business after long travels over the world collecting seeds and I shall see him in a few weeks. I will ask if he kept a record of the source of his seeds. Regarding I. bismarkiana identification, I would be curious to have your opinion about the plants illustrated on the following web page : http://bulbsociety.org/GALLERY_OF_THE_WORLDS_BULBS… The photo was posted by Dr Ori Fragman-Sapir of the Jerusalem Botanical garden. There is more pictures on the Botanical website at the following URL http://www.botanic.co.il/A/catalog.asp?qcat=IRIBIS http://botanic.co.il/english/guide/… If I understand well the plants illustrated are at least in cultivation and living population still occur in the Mount Hermon area close to the Israeli/Lebanon border... Thanks also for your imput... Luc