Muscari paradoxum (note gender) has been a synonym of Bellevalia paradoxa. According to Brian Mathew's older book :Dwarf Bulbs", it is "smaller than the other two blue-flowered Bellevalia species" with "flowers in a short dense raceme, pale to deep blue, more or less bell-shaped with short perianth lobes edged with yellow." B. pycnantha does not have the yellow or white margins. It is a fairly stout plant. A Muscari hybrid is being sold by Dutch growers under the name Bellevalia pycnantha. It is obviously not that plant, and it's invasive. I got cheated into buying some because I thought it was a great bargain for B. pycnantha, which increases quite slowly. There is also a plant that arrived here under the name Bellevalia dubia, which is very pretty and has a bicolored inflorescence with the upper (sterile) flowers brilliant blue. I have two Bellevalia species (or maybe just one) that have extremely long pedicels; one is called B. longistyla and I don't remember, offhand, what the other one is labeled. All of these are just starting to flower now -- they're a little later than most of the Muscari I have. Dell asked about Bellevalia forniculata. Seed is usually available from the Archibalds. It takes a long time to grow to flowering size and doesn't increase vegetatively as far as I can see. It is indeed a beautiful "meconopsis blue," but (as with the Anemone biflora we discussed recently) there is the matter of scale: the individual flowers are rather small. It's an alpine plant of moist meadows, apparently, and I find it does best here in the lowlands grown in a raised but uncovered bed (Dell, that is the middle "frame" you saw here between the two ranges of covered frames). It might do better in the Rockies or eastern Canada. I have a lot of trouble managing high-alpine bulbs, but am pleased to see Fritillaria cirrhosa looking quite good this year. I keep it on my covered deck in a plunged pot, rather dry in winter. F. camschatcensis is also good this year. If you get a really huge Muscari with violet flowers, it may be M. dionysicum, which has appeared here and there under a couple of names in recent years. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon, USA Jim wrote: > And this mystery plant I bought as Muscari paradoxa. The >flowers heads are outrageous large -for a Muscari - deep dark blue >and the plant over all is 'large ' - for a Muscari. I am wondering >if it is in fact a Bellevalia or is it B pycnantha?