"This brings to my mind a perplexing question. Dutch growers often retire certain cultivars that cease to grow well once the clones acquire too many viruses (King Alfred). Is it really possible that a single saffron clone could go on for thousands of years without acquiring too many viruses, or even just succumbing to old age? Perhaps old age IS why they don't flower easily for everyone. It would be interesting to see the genetics mapped of Crocus sativus from different sources around the world." Travis I don't have any specific answers but it is important to realize that viruses are an important part of evolution in that they allow for lateral gene transfer (they have another name for it now). What we see as viral infections are mostly exogenous viruses that are not co-adapted to that species. In that context a clone could easily survive in its region of origin without infection as long as the dispersion always radiated outward from the origin. And just as a hospital is the perfect breeding ground for drug resistant pathogens, collectors and breeders are probably the best proliferators of pernicious plant viruses. Which reminds me, I recently bought "The Oldest Living Things in the World" after seeing it reviewed in 'Science'. Seems like a book of great interest to this crowd. If it's older than 2000 years, it's in the book. http://amazon.com/The-Oldest-Living-Things-World/… Tim