Most of the recent posts on the topic of smoke and germination or smoke and inflorescence seem to be implying that this is new knowledge. But it seems to me that I heard about it fifty years ago when I was a kid. And here's another aspect of this thread which I'm wondering about: does fumaric acid aid in germination and the embryogeny of an inflorescence? And is there any connection (other than the derivation of the name) with the papaveraceous genus Fumaria, known as smokewort, and from which fumaric acid can be derived? Jim McKenney Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where I'm burning to know the answer.