Diane Whitehead and I are certainly thinking alike today. I, too, consulted the Bailey Cyclopedia in the two editions I have here: the original turn-of-the-century (1904) edition and a later 1925 edition. I was trying to find an early citation of the name murielae in an American publication. Among other things, I also checked the 1928 spring catalog of the John Scheepers Co. - there was no mention of Acidanthera in any form. But, and let this be a warning to others looking around, there was a garden cultivar called Muriel listed in that catalog. This is illustrated - it was a purple/blue colored cultivar. The illustrations in these old catalogs suggest that many of these hybrid glads were not far removed - at least on one side of their parentage - from wild Gladiolus. Evidently breeders were using wild Gladiolus to bring in new colors at this time. The "blue" flowered cultivars in particular seem to show this. The following species of Gladiolus were also offered in this catalog: dracocephalus, quartinianus, psittacinus, primulinus and saundersii. Diane also wrote: "An interesting note from the Preface to the Second Edition: [of the Bailey work] "Many species have been disseminated in an experimental way, as by the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction of the United States Department of Agriculture ...." Ah, those were the days!" Well, let's not forget the whole history. They might have been the good old days for awhile, but don't forget the bulb quarantine which followed those good ol' days. The present problems we are having with the importation of seeds suggests that many parties involved seem to have forgotten that sorry episode in overweening mismanagement by the Federal Government. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where Scilla messenaica is blooming in the cold frame today. 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/