Hi All: As several threads have indicated, the role of botanic gardens has changed when it comes to distribution of seeds/excess plants. At Chicago Botanic Garden we chose to discontinue the *Index Seminum* due to concerns some of our scientists studying invasive species had - that seeds of our native plants would become invasive in other parts of the world (and they provided some examples to illustrate their point). The other concern expressed with seeds from *Index Seminum* is that a majority of them were collected from plant s in cultivation. The female parent is known but in many cases the seedlings were hybrids with other species. In my home garden that may not be an issue but in a living museum the idea of passing off a hybrid as an exemplar of the species was very troubling and creates major problems with captive breeding efforts to generate seeds for re-introduction. While we still receive *Index Seminum* from other botanic gardens their numbers have been drastically reduced over the last ten years. In some cases because of budget cuts and staffing shortages but in many cases due to concerns related to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) and invasive plants. Fortunately Chicago Botanic Garden and the Morton Arboretum do have a mechanism for making rare and unusual ornamental plants available through a partnership with commercial nurseries called the Chicagoland Grows(TM) program. A portion of the proceeds are returned to the Garden/Arboretum to help support on-staff plant breeders and plant collection trips. Unfortunately, none of the participating nurseries are really focused on producing geophytes but excess bulbs/plants are frequently offered for sale through the CBG 'A Rare Affair' auction offered every 2 years. If folks on this list are interested, I can send a list of geophytes in 2013 that will be offered for auction in early June of that year - I believe we have, or are trying, to implement ways that people who can't physically attend the auction can bid by email/text. Proceeds usually are dedicated to supporting one or more of the Gardens Science and Education programs. Boyce Tankersley Director of Living Plant Documentation Chicago Botanic Garden 1000 Lake Cook Road Glencoe, IL 60022 >