Sternbergia colchiciflora

Description

Sternbergia colchiciflora is a bulbous flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae, which is sometimes used as an ornamental plant. The species is native to southern Europe from Spain to Ukraine, as well as from Morocco, Algeria, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iran and the Caucasus. It has yellow flowers which appear in autumn. Sternbergia is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. The genus comprises eight recognised species that show a broad distribution throughout the Mediterranean Basin as well as central and southwestern Asia. Sternbergia contains a number of species of flowering bulbs which rather resemble Crocus. These plants produce golden-yellow goblet-shaped flowers borne on stalks some way above the ground that open during the autumn or early winter. The flower is composed of six stamens and a single style attached to an inferior ovary. Long, strap-like leaves may appear with the flowers or sometime after. The only two exceptions to this are S. vernalis and S. candida which flower in the spring, with S. candida producing striking white flowers. The genus has gained notability due to the widespread use of one of its species, S. lutea, as a garden plant. This species has been found in cultivation for several hundred years, and has become naturalised in many parts of northern Europe, well beyond its natural range. Sternbergia lutea was first described in 1601 by Clusius, who included the plants in the genus Narcissus. Carl Linnaeus in 1753 regarded them as part of Amaryllis. It was not until 1825 that the species was transferred to Sternbergia, using the generic name coined in 1804. The genus was named in honor of Count Kaspar von Sternberg.