You are the first person who told me about a sterile form. It is probably some sort of hybrid with something fairly closely related . Sterile plants would have to produce bulblets to reproduce and they can't spread beyond a small area. In nature these plants normally die out in a couple generations. Plants produce seed to spread their offspring over a wider area. Can you get me a truly sterile bulb? I am a retired plant breeder and geneticist. Some plants will on their own, double the number of chromosomes in their reproductive cells. The normal chromosome number for a plant is called the Diploid state. It could be any number but say it is 2 . The pollen and egg cells would have a chromosome number of 1.Half the genetic information comes from pollen and half from the egg cell. The seed has the normal number of 2 chromosomes per cell. Ok your plant with 2 chromosomes can change and the chromosome number can double to 4 chromosomes as the normal number.That plant produces pollen cells and eggs with 2 chromos each.The plant with the doubled chromosome number is called a Tetraploid. Tetraploid plants often have bigger flowers,more vibrant colors,heavier flower substance and many times is just superior to diploids. Tetraploid plants have been produced in the lab for many years. When you cross a diploid with a tetraploid plant many times the cross will not produce any seeds and any seeds are sterile (and no improvement to growers or gardeners). This is the genetic problem you may be talking about why two plants that look alike are sterile.If you can get a seed from the two different chromosome number they are often very weak growers and die out in nature. They cannot breed even if they make it to flowering size. They are just dead ends. Hope this wasn't too complicated, if you have a question send me a note. I owned a Nursery/Plant Breeding Facility for many years. I also have multiple degrees in genetics. There are basic books on plant breeding/genetics you can order from your local library. To give you an idea of the plant crosses I tried each summer, I pollinated thousands and thousands of flowers. If you do any attempts at producing seeds keep records of what and how you did your work. This information is very valuable. I knew a brilliant flower breeder that kept everything in his head. One day he very suddenly passed away and almost 75 years of knowledge was lost!Thank you for your information-Russ Hintz In a message dated 3/29/2013 12:22:31 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, klazina@orcon.net.nz writes: Russ, Sternbergia does not set seed. It is something to do with diploid or whatever. Do you have one which does set seed, as there is a seed setting one. But the most often grown one does not set seed. Ina Ina Crossley Auckland New Zealand Zone 10 On 29/03/2013 7:55 p.m., Jadeboy48@aol.com wrote: > If you want to produce seed just get a book/picture of a Sternbergia > flower.You have to know where the plant parts are, like anthers and stigmas > Polinate the flowers transferring pollen with clean artist brushes to the > stigma. Stigma must be slightly sticky for pollen to grow and combine withe egg > cell that will grow into seed. Try pollinating around 10am when the > humidity is a little higher, but no rain. Rinse brushes in alcohol to kill pollen > on the brush and you want to use clean brushes for pollination-Good > luck-Russ Hintz _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/