Help! I need a morphology lesson. David Ehrlich wrote: The petioles of N.northiana barely if at all exceed the enveloping bract; those of N.gracilis are several times as long as this bract. Do irids have petioles? By petiole, do you mean the structure extending from the crown of the plant up to the bract which surrounds the inflorescence? And if so, what is this structure? Is it a cladode (i.e. a leaf-like branch)? Or is it something else? Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/