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

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of alpine

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground 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 are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

to the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

(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 th ...

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 ...

, 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''
bulbocodium 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 {{liliales-stub