I grow the oddity Gymnospermium altaicum. My experiences with it sound similar to Jane McGary's and John Lonsdale's experience, but I'll try an add a few personal observations. The leaves are most intriguing when they first emerge, being very reddish and with rolled margins to the divided leaflets. Later the leaf goes over to a silvery-bluish color and the leaf margins expand, to reveal little, blunt, five-fingered leaflets about 1" above soil level. The leaf shoots emerge around the periphery of the tuber. The yellow flowers are small and quaint, only reaching a couple more inches in height. I have not observed any seed production. By late June the whole affair has disappeared underground for another year. I have posted a picture on the PBS wiki at: http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/… (if you look in the upper left corner of the photo, some buds are showing). I have also created a Gymnospermium page on PBS wiki, and added a link to Arnold Trachtenberg's closeup photo of G. albertii. ===================================================== And as a promised follow-up to a thread on Triteleia, I finally located my photo of one of Jim Robinett's superior bulb selections: Triteleia laxa 'Humbolt Star'. It's located at: http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/… I see that Mary Sue has been busy adding to the Triteleia PBS wiki page! Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5 ============================================== >> web site under construction - http://www.plantbuzz.com/ << alliums, bulbs, penstemons, hardy hibiscus, western american alpines, iris, plants of all types!
