Thanks to everyone who worked on this. All in all, I favor the theory that Herbert's name "Hippeastrum" includes a nod to Amaryllis (i.e., Hippeastrum) equestre (the Greek genus name offering the Greek equivalent of Latin "equestre"), a species that was not only early to be recognized but also easily cultivated. The notion of a star or constellation (e.g., Orion) being involved is likely apocryphal, and the "star" (aster) in the name does indeed refer to the resemblance of the Hippeastrum flower to a conventional image of a star with shining rays. The monograph "The Genus Hippeastrum in Bolivia," by Dr. Hibert Huaylla and colleagues, will be the first in a planned series of Occasional Papers of the Pacific Bulb Society. We currently plan to offer these papers online, open access, and also as print-on-demand works (in order to get the work into libraries and similar repositories, which the authors will want). If any of you have recommendations for print-on-demand companies you've worked with and found good, please let me know privately (don't reply to this post). I've already received a sample from CreateSpace and did not like the color reproduction and paper quality. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@mailman1.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/