Harold Koopowitz wrote, >Alberto: >I have not forgotten. I was the one who invited Read and Campbell to >the meeting in the first place. However, the fact that some plants >are on CITES has very little to do with actual levels of threat. It >has more to do with "do-gooders" who actually did not really >appreciate what they were doing when plant groups were placed on >CITES. I am vividly reminded of the program I organized for a NARGS Winter Study Weekend some years ago, to which I invited Faith Campbell of the Natural Resources Defense Fund to speak. She was first on the morning program, and her talk really woke the audience up -- and not in a good way. She inveighed against any collection of any material in the wild, including seeds, and against the introduction of exotic species via gardens. People who take this fundamentalist approach to plant conservation tend to be urbanites who haven't spent much if any time in remote regions and who don't know how few seeds dispersed in the wild actually progress to the mature, reproductive plant stage. As for the threat of invasive species, it is real, but such plants are far more likely to invade where the way has been prepared for them by human activity, especially soil disturbance and the destruction of balance in naturally evolved plant communities, whether this is by farming, pastoralism, fire suppression (yes!) or killing off animals that prey on herbivores. That said, if I found Tecophilaea cyanocrocus in the wild (highly unlikely!) I wouldn't take away seeds from it, but I would plant some in protective crevices on the site. Joshua wrote, " I don't think it's just the younger crowd that are eagerly awaiting the presence of the rarer Amaryllids into their collection considering their beauty. I think this is why it's important for many to share their collections to avoid people for searching at whatever cost and it's quite difficult to find many seasoned growers that are willing to offer offsets to places like PBS of incredibly rare species." Having been fortunate enough to be able, over many years, to buy seeds of some rare species (though not tropical amaryllids, which I can't grow here), I was glad to be able to share them, first through my surplus sales and now through having given stock bulbs and seeds to Mark Akimoff's Illahe Nursery in Salem, Oregon. Mark just sent out his first catalog and reports a good response (you can contact him at mark_akimoff@msn.com). He is a university-trained horticulturist who moved his focus from alpines to bulbs in order to fit a nursery operation in with his fulltime job in wetlands conservation. I'm sure many older gardeners are grateful to be able to pass on their collections to younger ones. Hoarding a plant collection is never a good idea. I see that Terry Laskiewicz has just sent Watsonia humilis to the BX; I don't know whether she got it from me, but I lost it in a bad freeze 2 years ago, and am glad to see it's still around so I can eventually get it back, as it's a delightful plant and an opportunity to grow a Watsonia in a small space (not a feature of most species in the genus). Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA