Garlic is only one of a number of plants cultivated since the dawn of time with no known wild equivalent. The saffron crocus is another such, as is (oddly enough) the "Dutch Yellow" crocus, which Brian Mathew demonstrated to be a sterile hybrid of C. ancyrensis and C. flavus, iirc. The Hittites three or more millenia ago had a festival featuring a plant whose name is transcribed krk, presumably some form of crocus. A closely related category of cultivated plants comprises those grown so widely for so long that no one is certain where they originated. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island http://maps.google.ca/maps/…