Colchicum atropurpureum is a small flowered ''

Colchicum ''Colchicum'' ( or ) is a genus of perennial flowering plants containing around 160 species which grow from bulb-like corms. It is a member of the botanical family Colchicaceae, and is native to West Asia, Europe, parts of the Mediterranean coas ...

'' which has blooms that open pink and then turn to a darker shade of red-purple. This plant is often confused with '' Colchicum autumnale''. It is considered unresolved, or ''

species inquirenda In biological classification, a ''species inquirenda'' is a species of doubtful identity requiring further investigation. The use of the term in English-language biological literature dates back to at least the early nineteenth century. The term t ...

'', according to

The Plant List The Plant List was a list of botanical names of species of plants created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden and launched in 2010. It was intended to be a comprehensive record of all known names of plant species ...

Taxonomy

''Colchicum atropurpureum'' was described in 1934 by

William Stearn William Thomas Stearn (16 April 1911 – 9 May 2001) was a British botanist. Born in Cambridge in 1911, he was largely self-educated, and developed an early interest in books and natural history. His initial work experience was at ...

, based on a name proposed by Otto Stapf for plants cultivated in Cambridge University Botanic Garden. These plants were introduced into cultivation by a Dutch firm, allegedly from plants collected in the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

valley in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

that may have been garden escapees. There are mentions to a ''Colchicum autumnale'' var. ''atropurpureum'' prior to the description of ''Colchicum atropurpureum'', but it is unclear if these refer to the same species described by Stearn. The species has since been considered a synonym of ''C. autumnale'', but other authors have considered it more similar to '' C. turcicum''. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the name, it has been proposed to consider it a

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

, ''Colchicum'' 'Atropurpureum'.

References

atropurpureum {{liliales-stub