''Colchicum bulbocodium'', the spring meadow saffron, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

ous plant native to mountain ranges across Europe from the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

to the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

(Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Romania, the former Yugoslavia, Ukraine and southern European Russia). It is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

in many places. It has flowers considered ideal for the

rock garden A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small A ...

, which is beautiful ''en masse''. The plant is a hardy spring flower bulb, very small in size, reaching about 7–10 cm high. From April to June, the strap-shaped leaves emerge with pink-to-purple crocus-like flowers, 3–8 cm in diameter. As all the species of the genus ''Colchicum'', the species is a poisonous plant.

Subspecies and varieties

Three infraspecific taxa of the species are currently recognized: * ''Colchicum bulbocodium'' subsp. ''bulbocodium'' ** var. ''bulbocodium'' ** var. ''edentatum'' (Schur) K.Perss (syn. ''Bulbocodium edentatum'' Schur.) is indigenous to Romania. * ''Colchicum bulbocodium'' subsp. ''versicolor'' (Ker Gawl.) K. Perss. (syn. ''Bulbocodium versicolor'' (Ker Gawl.) Spreng.) is native in Eastern Europe and the

. The plant is in all its parts smaller than ''Colchicum bulbocodium'' subsp. ''bulbocodium''. Image:Ontluikende wolbol.jpg, Flower buds Image:Colchicum bulbocodium.jpg, Flowering plants in a garden Image:Colchicum bulbocodium leaves3.jpg, Leaf in the late spring Image:Colchicum bulbocodium leaves & fruit.jpg, Leaf and fruit

References

External links

''Bulbocodium vernum''
{{liliales-stub

bulbocodium ''Colchicum'' ( or ) is a genus of perennial plant, perennial flowering plants containing around 160 species which grow from bulb-like corms. It is a member of the botanical family (biology), family Colchicaceae, and is native plant, native to W ...

Alpine flora Flora of the Alps Flora of the Pyrenees Flora of Spain Flora of France Flora of Italy Flora of Switzerland Flora of Austria Flora of Hungary Flora of Romania Flora of Ukraine Flora of Russia Flora of Slovenia Flora of Croatia Flora of Bosnia and Herzegovina Garden plants of Europe