In response to the recent post by Kathy Purdy asking about the name "Colchicum cilicicum," here is an extract from a catalog prepared in the 1990s by the Dutch-French bulb expert Antoine Hoog and distributed by the export company Hoog & Dix. This isn't a "real" publication in terms of taxonomy, but I often resort to this when curious about the identity of commercially distributed bulbs. It reflects a generations-deep familiarity with the Dutch bulb industry as well as sophisticated botanical knowledge. "Colchicum cilicicum (Boiss.) Dammer ... originally from Turkish imports, but the exact origin is not known; differs from /C. byzantinum /Ker-Gawl. by the narrower, intensely coloured perianth segments, giving a starry appearance to the flowers, by the very short perianth tubes and by flowering one month later; honey scented; ht. 10-12 cm; X-XI [i.e., fl. October-November]." The catalog also lists /Colchicum cilicicum /(Boiss.) Dammer 'Purpureum' "from gardens; inside of flowers imperial-purple [such color designations are part of a Dutch standard], with greyish-white central vein, outside violet-purple ...." In this catalog /C. byzantinum /and its white form are still listed as species, though later they were identified as hybrids; the colored variety is "from gardens" and has "numerous amethyst-violet flowers on lolng white perianth tubes; large corms with a flat base." The flat base of the corms is also seen in /C. bivonae/, by the way. We further read that /C. bivonae /flowers a month earlier than "C. cilicicum," and I observe this is my collection, which includes C. bivonae forms grown from wild-collected seed. May I just mention that the most spectacular Colchicum in flower today is a seed-grown /Colchicum cousturieri /in the bulb house; the flowers are small but wonderfully numerous, and a pleasant light pink. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA