Hi Jim and Randy, Thanks for the information. I will provide a profile shot including foliage as soon as I am able (I am at work). The foliage is a rosette of compact stiff leaves, dark green, closer to Scilla natalensis than Scilla peruviana, but the flowers of Scilla natalensis are definitely longer and more dispersed, not nearly as compact as the flowers of the specimens I have. I'll provide additional photos asap. Thanks for the help. David. Message: 1 Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2012 09:09:03 -0700 (PDT) From: Jim McKenney <jamesamckenney@verizon.net> Subject: Re: [pbs] Please help ID this To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Message-ID: <1349366943.9373.YahooMailNeo@web84515.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 As I recall, the events in question took place about a century and a half before the time of Linnaeus' best work.? It?was?Clusius, not Linnaeus, ?who?traveled?to Bristol to get information about this plant. He was told that it came in a ship named Peru but the ship itself had come from the Levant. ?The nane antedates Linnaeus, and thus modern nomenclature, ?by about 150 years. And is the plant in question actually S. peruviana (Oncostema peruviana) or is it one of the South African species, such as Merwilla plumbea (Scilla natalensis)? The foliage, what we can see of it, suggests this plant rather than S. peruviana. Jim McKenney ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2012 09:17:46 -0700 From: "Randall P. Linke" <randysgarden@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [pbs] Please help ID this To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Message-ID: <CAOi3jfO56gfv1tooTLO4BU-YvooLoX0i=_EyqgS0BCGea=1bDg@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 On Thu, Oct 4, 2012 at 9:09 AM, Jim McKenney <jamesamckenney@verizon.net>wrote: > And is the plant in question actually S. peruviana (Oncostema peruviana) > or is it one of the South African species, such as Merwilla plumbea (Scilla > natalensis)? The foliage, what we can see of it, suggests this plant rather > than S. peruviana. > My Merwilla dracomontana flowered for the first time this year. Like M. plumbea the flower head is somewhat more elongated, less congested and a lighter shade of blue than what is pictured. A better picture of the foliage and of the inflorescence from the side would be helpful in confirming the ID. Randy Monterey Bay Area, California -- * * * * ------------------------------