Sent from my iPhone > On Feb 27, 2017, at 4:52 PM, Tony Avent <Tony@plantdelights.com> wrote: > > Jim; > > Sounds like a great discussion in which I’m sure we’ll all learn something new. To begin, there seems to be as many definitions of species than there are taxonomists… This sums up one of the biggest issues in taxonomy as there is no strict definition or guideline of "species." Ploidy levels and sterility are handled differently. Some taxonomists still hold on to the concept of giving every accession its on variety name based on minor differences while others choose to just expand the description of the species. Even with the newer DNA sequencing technology on the horizon these issues will still exist. On a side : Tony Avent, the true L shaanxiensis is in the US..at least one bulb is. I can give you a contact, but it's a private collector who might have an extra one or two only. It's occasionally listed on one of the Chinese language auction sites (no not the same people offering glow in the dark green ones with free rainbow roses on EBay ). From what I was told it's very rare there and not easily available. You have stuff he's looking for though :) Tim Chapman _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/