yes they look just like small peas, I didn't miss the offer *grins* Peter (UK) On Sat, Nov 26, 2011 at 7:19 PM, Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net>wrote: > Shelley wrote > > >They don't set many seeds so you'd need a field of them to have any > >number of seed and they are very fleshy so don't keep very well. > >Someone else might know of a seed source. I have grown only the > >purple and for a brief time the white (which I believe is rare) > >although it never flowered and went underground and hasn't been seen > since. > > When I was doing the intake phase of the NARGS seed exchange in the > mid-1990s, an Australian member sent Calostemma purpureum seeds was > back in the good old pre-9/11 days, when our foreign members could > send in seeds without a lot of bureaucratic complications). The > packet fell apart as I opened the envelope, and what looked like a > lot of garbanzos (Brit. chickpeas) with green shoots emerging rolled > out. I decided this wasn't something that would survive the next few > months in storage and planted them immediately. I shared the > resulting seedlings with our NARGS chapter and kept about half a > dozen, which I grew in a frost-free solarium. They did flower for a > number of years, but the flowers were not especially attractive, so > when I moved to my new place, which has no frost-free area for > plants, I gave them away. > > I understand that this type of germination is typical of this > species, which may be why seed is not often available. > > Jane McGary > Portland, Oregon, USA > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >