The Massonia pustulata from Loriesfontein that I sent to Roy Herold were originally grown from seed originating from Gordon Summerfield (his original sales catalogue number for this seed was 3820). This form has pale yellowy-green leaves which are very attractive and quite different from other forms that have the more usual darker green, purple or mottled leaves. Earlier this year I spoke at a scientific symposium on the Hyacinthaceae at Guild ford University. Also attending were a group from the University of Graz in Austria, including Andreas Brudermann. Andreas presented a poster session detailing some work they have been recently doing on Massonia taxonomy and in particular he spoke about Massonia pustulata. They had noticed that the majority of plants currently grown in cultivation as Massonia pustulata do not match with the first description and iconotype as given by Jacquin; he characterizes the species as having wide perigon-filament tubes, which form a green-blue ring at the entrance. These characteristics are also shown in figures drawn by both GAWLER and ANDREWS back in the 19th century. However, those observations contradict those made more recently by MÜLLER-DOBLIES in 1997 and MANNING in 2002, who described the perigon-tubes of M. pustulata as narrow. The researchers at Graz have been doing phylogenetic studies of Massonia species (not yet published). They have looked at the DNA of 5 examples of Massonia pustulata as commonly grown and compared them to one example they have in their collection which does match the original description by Jacquin. The 5 samples of the forms most commonly grown all came out showing little difference in their DNA. However the one example which matched the original description came out on a different branch of the cladogram resulting from their work, suggesting it is indeed different. Their conclusions were that most of what currently goes under the name of Massonia pustulata in cultivation has little in common with the species as originally described by Jacquin. It may therefore require describing and giving a new name. They have adopted a working name of “Massonia pseudopustulata” for now. The situation will require further investigation before they can draw final conclusions. To me, the whole genus of Massonia still seems rather a mess taxonomically speaking. Hopefully the ongoing DNA work being done not just by Andreas but also elsewhere will ultimately result in a bit more light being thrown on it. Paul Cumbleton Staines, Middlesex, UK