Hello, sunflower, I have had a few breakthroughs in my zinnia breeding, but still nothing comparable to the Sea Shells cosmos. Botanically speaking, any part of a plant that is capable of making a seed is defined to be a "flower" and each zinnia petal can produce a seed at its base, so each zinnia petal is botanically a "flower". Some of my hybrid zinnia petals do resemble flowers in their own right. As usual, you can click on the photos to see larger versions. Some of my zinnia tubular petals are almost needle-like. I have a variety of "flower-like" zinnia petal forms. But so far, none of my zinnias have petals that resemble sea shells. Zinnia DNA molecular strings have genes encoded on those strings and between those gene sequences, there are seemingly random sequences that are thought to be fragments of previous prehistoric genes. I think there is some slight possibility that the hybridization process between two different gene sequences could recombine different fragment sequences to re-form a previous prehistoric gene. We might get a glimpse at what was possible in prehistoric zinnias. That is why I am so keen on making hybrids between hybrids between hybrids. ZM

Hi All Not two species but rather three distinct subspecies of which A. flavum ssp. thibeticum is the most striking in that the spathe is brilliant yellow rather than the grubby yellow typical of ssp. flavum and ssp. intermedium and the spathe limb is greatly expanded, arches forward and then flares upwards. An eophyll (literally 'dawn leaf') is the first leaf that appears above ground in many monocots and is NOT the actual cotyledon or seed leaf (which remains inside the seed functioning as an absorptive organ called the "haustorium"). The haustorium transfers nutrients from the endosperm to the young seedling. There is very little research been undertaken in these areas in aroids, but quite a lot done in the Arecaeae. A good link with images can be found at: Pete Here is a link that might be useful: Palm Seed Germination

I have two Eureka's potted under my pool enclosure, would there be any issues planting the Meyer's under the same pool enclosure or in the yard outside the enclosure? Not sure if planting two different species in proximity of one anther is a good or bad idea.

Thank you all for your kind replies! :-) Marlene: I bought the plant as G. refractum, but the source I got it from is known for their misidentifications, and the pictures I have found on the web doesn't match. Is this species very variable? Picture 1 Picture 2 (this plant looks a bit like #2) alethea/Pellie Grower: #2 does look like G. pogonanthum, but I have never seen pictures of yunnanense. Are they hard to tell apart? The colors are a bit wrong, #2 is pink, #1 is a bit more reddish purple. The petals on #1 are much more reflexed today: Thanks for helping me identify them:-)