>> Well, all I really know is that the seed is from Allen Lowrie, who
>> claims it came from Pilztal. But I just looked through my notes and
>> realized I don't know where Pilztal is!
>
>Try a map of Czechoslovakia (now two seperate countries). Pilztal
>sounds like a town in eastern Europe and Miloslav Studnicka collects
>plenty of native Ping seeds, so chances are this Ping seed is from him
>and collected in Czechoslovakia.
Whereas it is correct that Miloslav Studnicka has collected seeds of (at
that time still) Czechoslovakian _P._ species, he cannot have found
_P.leptoceras_ there as this species is an Alpine (+N Appennine?) endemic
(the Alps are limited by the upper Danube basin so that they do not extend
into Czechoslovakia). "Pilztal" sounds very German ("Mushroom valley"), and
I believe it is in the Alps (I am not sure, however: Joe or Andreas do you
know more?).
Anyway, if the seeds you have were indeed collected in "Pilztal" or
something like that, they are certainly from central Europe and you can
exclude _P.macroceras_ (the range of which being amphipacific boreal).
Also, _P.corsica_, _P.longifolia_, _P.vallisneriifolia_, _P.nevadensis_,
and _P.villosa_ can be excluded geographically. The problem is narrowed to
_P.vulgaris_, (_P.grandiflora_), (_P.balcanica_), and _P.leptoceras_ (the
corolla is blue-violet, isn't it?).
Kind regards
Jan