"Plants
numbered by the first president and co-founder of
The
American Hosta Society (Alex
Summers) who exchanged many hostas with
other collectors and imported them from Japan and
Europe. Keeping careful records he numbered
acquisitions, gave the source of the plant, and provided
identification where this was required. His 1972 listing
is an important historical reference for this present
volume. It contains 581 entries, some of those which
provided important clues to identification are listed
below. Many of Summers' other numbered taxa are of
interest to researchers only, so I have not listed
them."