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