Hi Dee, and everyone else out there. I’ve been a member and ardent follower for some time now and learned so much from all of your comments and conversations—thank you for that. With this discussion about Veltheimia capensis and V. bracteata I thought I’d add my two cents worth. My wife, Jane, and I have a small side business (teachers first and foremost) growing various favorite plants for fun and profit. V. bracteata is one of those plants and we grow them by the thousands. A little like Johnny Appleseed in the respect that we give away more than we sell as they are such prolific seeders—we recently donated seeds to the BX and will againJ. To give you an idea about our growing conditions, we are on the beach just south of Santa Barbara, CA. We have experienced only one freeze in 35 years. Getting to the point, after looking at the posted photo I wanted to share that in our grow-out bed we see this effect on a regular basis. It usually presents itself in four-year old or older plants as they make their first push after “dormancy.” We used to isolate plants that displayed this behavior (hoping they were sports) but have found that it is inconsistent, not repeating itself season to season, or in fact, leaf to leaf. At times it has been so pronounced as to resemble the pattern and color of watermelon peperomia leaves (for those of you who know this plant). One observation we’ve discussed is that it seems to be the hardiest of bulbs/plants that tend to show the longitudinal striping. We fertilize all of our garden and beds using constant feed, quarter strength, balanced fertilizer three seasons. We are out of the country annually for the winter so the plants fend for themselves during that time. All in all what I want to impart is that I agree with Peter that it is likely not a virus. Cheers from sunny Zihuatenejo, Mexico (winter home in the tropics), Ray