Here’s another example. The late Graham Stuart Thomas, in a discussion of winter-blooming crocuses, wrote “There are several midwinter species…But, truly named, C. imperati lords it over all. For this is a crocus in a regal cloak.” This passage seems to suggest that Thomas thought the specific epithet meant “imperial” or something of the sort. But the crocus is named after the sixteenth century Italian botanist Ferrante Imperato. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/