Anita asked "Is it possible that there is some genetic variation in Lycoris squamigera in spite of its being produced mainly by bulb chipping?" Anita, you've touched on something about which I've long speculated. It's been accepted for a long time now – fifty years or so - that Lycoris squamigera is triploid and almost certainly of hybrid origin. In other words, there is probably no place on earth where there exists a sexually reproducing population of Lycoris squamigera. But, is there evidence to suggest that the hybridization which produced Lycoris squamigera occurred more than once? To put it another way, is Lycoris squamigera a clone, or does the name represent a collection of very similar plants of similar origin? At this time of year I keep a lookout for big groups of this plant in old gardens. In the past it was dirt cheap, and occasionally one sees it planted by the hundreds in country gardens. Usually such plants are all much alike; occasionally I see plants which seem to have a slight difference in color or stature. What, if anything, is the significance of these variations? Sometimes such big plantings are mixed with a few Lycoris sprengeri here or there. Seed of Lycoris squamigera was offered on one pre-WWII seed list I have seen. I wonder what the source of that seed could have been (and what, if anything, grew from it). As is so often the case in horticulture, the commonest plants sometimes pose the most intriguing puzzles. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/