Hi Mary Sue, you know, it's entirely possible that what I've got is O.purpurea...and not O.bowiei...since the two look so similar/identical. Well, except purhaps for scale...which is always a problem when viewing anything over the Internet unless a ruler or something that indicates scale is included in the photo. The bulbs of my Oxalis are firm, elongated & dark brown...about the size of large acorns, but more the shape of freesia bulbs. Anyway, since they're freebies...to an Oxalis collector, I have a feeling that O.bowiei or O.purpurea, it's all good. -d. P.S. O.bowiei was spelled incorrectly (O.boweii) on the Oxalis.org website...and it's such a comfort to know that I'm not alone when it comes to making errors-of-fact.