Dave, While H. coccineus is quite variable, yours will probably have comparatively broader leaves vs. your H. barkerae. Under moderately bright light conditions H. barkerae in my experience tends to have upright (erect) and curved leaves with undulate, narrow red margins. Leaf spotting is not prominent at all in H. bakerae I've grown. Don't rely too much on pubescence in seedling leaves, though H. coccineus on average will have hairier seedling leaves than the ultimately glabrous (hairless) H. barkerae. Haemanthus barkerae has been a great little plant for me. It stays small (6-8 plants grow comfortably though cramped in a 6" pot), flowers reliably, a nice all-pink flower head (flowers and bracts) and seems to be one of the quicker species to reach flowering from seed, perhaps 5-6 years. H. coccineus is worth obtaining from different localities since it is so variable. A note on labeling: may I encourage you to avoid any marking of pots and stick with stake labels. This makes access to information and re-using pots much easier. The best are vinyl-based and even the "cheapie" roll type labels for printers last a long time. Use a no. 2 pencil-- it will outlast any ink-- and insert the tag as deeply as possible but still just visible-- you don't need to see the label to grow the plant. Horticultural Printers offers a large selection of labels suitable for growers as well as nurserymen. Dylan Hannon Dylan Hannon Rare Bulbs On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 9:54 AM, Laura & Dave <toadlily@olywa.net> wrote: > Hi all > I was wondering if someone could help me straighten out a little > problem I have with the species names of some Haemanthus seedlings > growing from BX-173. I received seeds of the three species: > > 14 >-- Haemanthus amarylloides ssp polyanthus > 15 >-- Haemanthus barkerae > 16 >-- Haemanthus coccineus > > but was late for leaving for vacation when I sowed them. The old adage, > that "I'll remember what is in each pot, and label them when I get > back.", was employed, since the whole family was scowling at me > impatiently. Well, we all know how well that works. H. amarylloides I > did manage to get marked so that I remembered, but not so the other > two. One of the species ( H. barkerae or H. coccineus ) has very > pronounced spotting on the lower portion of the cotyledon, the other > none. So, if anyone also growing either of these plants could let me > know the status of the spotting, I'd be really grateful. > > Thanks > Dave Brastow - Tumwater, Washington USA - 7A > > P.S. I've since discovered the Marks All pen from Sharpie. This writes > in opaque white, which shows up on black / dark green pots, and is quite > durable. At least now I can scribble a number on a pot if I get hurried. > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >