David Pilling wrote me privately on Jan 14 before posting Sarah Bettany's query about Cosmos atrosanguineus to the mailing list on Jan 28. The primary issue is the source of the information that wild collected seeds were sent to the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. I've looked through my email archive at some length and checked for any aides de memoire I may have made, but regrettably I did not record where I found that information. It may be that in my memory I confused the Santa Ana garden with the Huntington Gardens. The two likeliest candidates as sources of this possibly-garbled information are (a) Google searches on "Cosmos atrosanguineus" and (b) discussion on the forums of the Scottish Rock Garden Club. For the Google searches, it will be necessary to dig far beyond the first page of results if anyone wishes to track this down. I have a clear recollection of unearthing reports of finding this elusive plant in at least four different sites in Mexico and locating these sites at the Google map of Mexico. I *did* record these four sites in a memoir; they are Jalisco San Luis Potosi (extinct, but being re-introduced) Guanajuato Zimapan, Hidalgo (type) In 2006, Fred Boutin reported on finding this growing in Jalisco: http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbslist/2006-/ July/ub8es5snq4622anrcjfjevmdc2.html I could tear my hair out over not being able to substantiate the remarks I've made on the PBS list about this. That'll teach me not to bookmark such things! -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Z. 7-8, cool Mediterranean climate