Richard, I'm not trying to pick on you, but your email is a good example of why it is so important for us to give some indication of where we live in our signature once we start to discuss specific plants rather than generalities. I'm on the east coast, and white oak to me is Quercus alba. Isn't there more to the name of Quercus garryiana than simply white oak? And the skunk cabbage you mention is Lysichiton, right? The eastern skunk cabbage is Symplocarpus, and its seeds do not "ripen in mid summer and germinate within a week". Context is important in these discussions, and your location is part of that context. So too is your participation, so please don't be offended by these remarks. Jim McKenney