In a message dated 5/18/2006 11:27:24 AM Central Daylight Time, pbs-request@lists.ibiblio.org writes: > when will your new email take hold? Where did you get > all these H. liriosme seeds Hi Cynthia, and Gang, I collected 2 forms of H. liriosme. The Conroe, TX form is beautiful and an early bloomer. The first blossom this year was near mid-February. The plants generally grow in wet areas and while there might be late frosts don't seem affected--probably because the frosts are mild here and the standing water (4-15 inches) keeps freezing temperatures from actually affecting ground level plants. The Conroe form is a smaller plant; it remains smaller when grown in the garden. I think the Conroe plants are doomed. The only plants I know of grow in ditches along county or state highways, highways that are destined to become 4-lane in the near future. I've already seen 2 or 3 acres of habitat destroyed, and I presume my own neighborhood ruined many more acres of habitat. The boggy areas that H. liriosme enjoys (in nature) are drained, elevated, and leveled to make homes, businesses, and highways. The second seed type came from near Wallisville, TX. Wallisville is about 100 miles from Conroe (by road) and may not experience any frost at all in most years. It is very near the coast and Trinity River estuaries and so it estimate it is at least 1/2 climate zone warmer (right next to the Gulf of Mexico, whereas Conroe is inland 75-85 miles). Anyway, the Wallisville plants are larger and bloom later. In my garden the Wallisville flowers open 3-4 weeks after I see the first Conroe flowers. I estimate the real difference is about 2-3 weeks. However, I have seen a very few of the Wallisville plants blooming in early June; in contrast the Conroe plants finish by early- or mid-April and I've never seen them blooming later. Thus, I suppose that the difference between "peak" bloom periods is about 4-5 weeks, but outliers confuse the start times. It is tempting to speculate the 2 forms are different, perhaps species and subspecies. Yet, there is no hard data for such speculation. I've never found a population that blooms as early as the Conroe plants but, perhaps, if I extended my observations to north Texas or parts of Louisiana and Arkansas I would see that the various differences are part of a single species. My new email address (jshaw@opuntiads.com) works now. However, I have not changed all of my various subscriptions and business notifications etc. It is difficult to divorce AOL and it takes time. By the way, Marcelle Sheppard says, "Say hi to Cynthia and Boone." Cordially, Joe