A book to which I often turn for information on bulbs is "The AGS Encyclopaedia of Alpines" (2 vols.; Alpine Garden Society, 1994). It is very expensive, if indeed still in print, but it contains entries by some of the leading experts on the various genera, such as Martyn Rix on Fritillaria, and also many entries on South American genera by John Watson. Not all the plants included are true alpines, but merely plants that tend to be grown by "alpine gardeners," which means devoted collectors of more or less hardy plant species. Jane McGary Oregon, USA