Hi Jim and others I always smile when I hear that someone grow "Ken Aslet", which is suppose to be a free flowering clone of O. melanosticta, because they all say it rarely flowers! Those thich fleshy roots are also found on many South african species. And the following comments might or might not be applicable to american species. Those roots are contractile roots, forming at the base of the bulb and by desicating and contracting they pull the new nutritive scales produced within the old bulb out of the old bulb, downwards, where a new bulb is formed. The old nutritive scales die off with the leaves at autumn, and at the new season the new bulb will sprout. These roots are eadible and very tasty, but do contain some Oxalic acid, if taken in too large quantities this could cause kidney stones. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim McKenney" <jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com> 'Ken Aslet' has never bloomed here. Earlier this week I began to dig these Mexican sorts for storage indoors during the winter. I've been meaning to post an image of the summer storage roots these have, but these roots don't last long and in the past they have been gone by the time I got around to trying to photograph them. This year I got them, so I've added an image of the odd icicle-radish-like structures which form beneath the bulb clusters of Oxalis lasiandra. These are also seen in O. tetraphylla/deppei. The first time I saw these I assumed that they were storage roots which would persist during dormancy. But in fact a few days after the bulbs are dug they fall off or deliquesce. They are not firmly attached to the bulb clusters and are easily detached in rough digging. These bright white roots look very sapid to me: does anyone know if they are edible? Take a look here: http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… Jim McKenney