Not sure where this note really belongs but I feel it is worth mentioning as it shows that some possibly unlikely people are looking at the Forum and enjoying the contents of different topics, in this case an earlier IRG issue.
A few weeks ago I had an email from a scientist at Massey University, near Palmerston North in the North Island. She asked, on behalf of another scientist whose English is not yet very fluent - he is Russian - if by any chance I had material of Haberlea rhodopensis, which I would be willing to provide in order that he, the 2nd scientist, could carry out DNA testing on that species, apparently in order to isolate the substance or gene which causes haberleas and some others (ramondas for instance) to regenerate so rapidly when watered following extreme drying. My name and the fact I grew the species had been discovered by the scientists when they were Internetting for a source of material, in the IRG which featured some of these plants and my own picture of the white form was included. They had sought material from Germany but our own restrictions on importing plants had made that an impossibility. I was only able to supply the white 'Virginalis' form but that was apparently suitable and in due course I sent off 4 grams of fresh leaves carefully packed in sterile plastic tubes and moistened with damp cotton wool. They arrived safely and I hope will prove useful. This has been my sole contribution to the amazing world of scientific discovery.
But maybe without the IRG and that photograph, the scientists at Massey would still be looking. H. rhodopensis is grown by others in NZ but not nearly so much as is H. ferdinandi-coburgi, a relatively common plant here.
