While doing some plant research online, I recently ran across the Facebook page of Crew, a volunteer group in South Africa that searches for and monitors endangered plant species. http://facebook.com/pages/… CREW/167173663344071 Their page lists rare flowers they've found, including a lot of bulbs. They have also published several newsletters that I found online. I was surprised and delighted by some of the things I read, and thought I should pass them along... --A white form of Moraea tulbaghensis, with blue-green nectar guides, has been discovered at Riebeeck Valley. <http://dev2.sanbi.org/sites/default/… > http://dev2.sanbi.org/sites/default/… (page 18) --A beautiful undescribed romulea, tomato red with a huge yellow center, was discovered at a farm in Riviersonderend. <http://dev2.sanbi.org/sites/default/… > http://dev2.sanbi.org/sites/default/… (page 20) --A second population of Moraea insolens has been discovered near Caledon. I thought M. insolens grew in only a single site, so this was good news. <http://dev2.sanbi.org/sites/default/… rvol7april2011copy2.pdf> http://dev2.sanbi.org/sites/default/… vol7april2011copy2.pdf (page 3) --Two plants of Moraea loubseri were seen blooming in the wild this past spring. It has not been seen for several years, and the authorities were beginning to worry that it had gone extinct in the wild. http://facebook.com/photo.php/… <http://facebook.com/photo.php/… 4.48241.167173663344071&type=1&ref=nf> &set=a.190386797689424.48241.167173663344071&type=1&ref=nf --A stunning white and red form of Geissorhiza radians was discovered. Think twice before you click on this link -- to see the flower is to lust after it. http://facebook.com/photo.php/… <http://facebook.com/photo.php/… 2.49680.167173663344071&type=1&ref=nf> &set=a.198420916886012.49680.167173663344071&type=1&ref=nf I'm sure this is all old news for folks in South Africa, but over here in California I wasn't aware of any of it. To me, the information above just underlines how rich the flora is in South Africa, and how much remains to be learned about it. Mike San Jose, CA PS: The folks at Crew kindly gave us permission to reproduce their photos on the PBS wiki, so I'm copying a few of them over. The first one was that Geissorhiza, of course.