''Colchicum cilicicum'', the Tenore autumn crocus, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the Colchicaceae family. A

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

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

, it bears deep rose-lilac flowers in late summer, with barely any chequered pattern on the petals (

tessellation A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane (mathematics), plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called ''tiles'', with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to high-dimensional ...

). It has a very noticeable white stripe down the centre of each petal, which gives it a star-like appearance at the base. The flowers tend to stand up to weather better than other colchicum blooms. The flowers appear before the strap-like leaves, giving this and other colchicum species the common name “naked lady”. Although colchicums are called “autumn crocuses” they belong to a different family than true crocuses. There are in fact autumn-flowering species of crocus such as ''

Crocus sativus ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as saffron crocus or autumn crocus, is a species of flowering plant in the iris family (biology), family Iridaceae. A cormous autumn-flowering cultivated perennial plant, perennial, unknown in the wild, it is ...

'', which is the source of the spice saffron. ''Colchicum cilicicum'', by contrast, is toxic if eaten. This species is native to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, ''Colchicum cilicicum''
/ref> It is found in cultivation, and under its synonym ''C. tenorei'' has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

’s

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. (confirmed 2017). The

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, ...

'Purpureum' is also a recipient of the award.

References

cilicicum Garden plants Plants described in 1882 Flora of Turkey Flora of Syria Taxa named by Pierre Edmond Boissier Taxa named by Carl Lebrecht Udo Dammer {{liliales-stub