Andrew wrote: "I am not sure what your reason was for asking the question about when theterm 'geophyte' was first used but I do know the answer that Merriam Webster provides: 'circa 1900'." Thanks, Andrew, I have not hit the dictionaries yet. I was asking to try to establish a sense of what the term meant originally and of how it has varied over the years (if in fact it has). Also, it would be significant (I think) if the term had originally been coined for use in a particular context. I've always assumed (and might very well have been wrong all along) that the term geophyte was originally introduced as a sort of dodge to get around the ambiguities which had come to be associated with the meaning and application of the term bulb. Is there a gardener among us who does not remember when some more worldly gardener issued a reprimand when a crocus corm was called a bulb? Jim McKenney