Roger wrote:” Crocus kotschyanus comes in three or four forms.´and then goes on to describe garden forms of Crocus kotschyanus kotschyanus. Quibble alert! I’m sure Roger himself is well aware of the distinction I’m about to make. Crocus kotschyanus does occur in four forms, four subspecies (in the taxonomic arrangements most of us have used) . The combination Crocus kotschyanus without modification refers equally to any of these four subspecies. The plants Roger is describing are presumably all forms of the subspecies kotschyanus. The potential confusion between “Crocus kotschyanus comes in four forms” in the sense that horticulturists are likely to mean it and the meaning the same words have in a botanical sense is a reflection of widespread usage among gardeners, most of whom seem to think that the combination Crocus kotschyanus without modification means the typical, familiar form of this species. As a botanical name it does not; as a term of everyday garden and catalog speak it probably does. 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/