Colchicums late Autumn / early Winter 2006

[David Nicholson]

I had hair, boundless energy!!, could drink anyone under the table as long as they were paying, and still didn't have money.

[razvan chisu]

Hello
I would like to ask if anyone knows of Colchicum autumnale f. oec. vernum. It is a form which flowers in spring. Last year in March just as the snow was melting, I found it flowering in Romania, near Brasov. Does anyone have any information on this form, if it is cultivated, its taxonomic status, etc. The Romanian Flora which helped me in identifying it is rather old (1966).

[Kees Jan]

Hi Razvan,

I have never heard of it. Could it possibly be Bulbocodium vernum (syn. Colchicum vernum)? Some nice pics at:
http://www.florealpes.com/fiche_bulbocode.php
http://flora.nhm-wien.ac.at/Seiten-Arten/Colchicum-vernum.htm
I suppose Bulbocodium vernum occurs in Romania since http://www.odysseybulbs.com/bulbvernlge.jpg says its distribution ranges "from the Pyrenees to the Carpathians". There is also a related species, B. versicolor that grows in Hungary and some adjacent countries. http://pensiunituristice.com/ema_catalog_produse-2715-Turism-308-Cluj_Napoca-11-Orase-PensiuniTuristice.com.html seems to indicate that B. vernum occurs near Brasov although I'm not quite sure since I can't actually read it .

C. autumnale var. vernum is mentioned at http://www.springerlink.com/content/v74268397qm3q71x/ but this is just a reference to a very old issue of Plant Systematics and Evolution, Volume 48, Number 3 / March, 1898. Since this and The Romanian Flora are quite old I would not be surprised if the plant is B. vernum, which is known to be a snow melt plant.

The tepals in Bulbocodium are separate, unlike in C. autumnale where they are fused in the tube. Do you have any pictures of this plant?

[mark smyth]

This is one of mine flowering last March

[razvan chisu]

Hello
No, it is not Bulbocodium vernum. I also searched the net and found this sinonimity, but I know Bulbocodium versicolor which grows about 500 m from my house and garden. I am talking of a real Colchicum autumnale (or something very similar to it) but which flowers in early spring. As I am working at the herbarium of the Botanical Garden in Cluj I also cheked here for plants of this form and found one which was flowering in May, and which is classified as autumnale. I also found at the library here the article of Karin Persson on Colchicum in the Balkans, but she does not mention flowering at such an early stage in the year. I have some pictures, but they are stored on my harddisk at home. Sadly my computer is now damaged and I cannot access them.
Razvan

[David Shaw]

I am getting confused, again.
How can a plant have autumnale in its name and be spring flowering?
I must assume that autumnale does not mean autumn?

[David Shaw]

Autumnale does mean autumn flowering
Vernum means spring flowering

Huh!

[Kees Jan]

Razvan,

Did the plants you photographed had leaves while flowering? And did the herbarium specimen that was collected in flower in May had leaves?

I suppose normal C. autumnale flowers well before any leaves develop. Is there also "normal" autumnale in the area?

Any chance of uploading a digital picture of the herbarium sheet? That would be very interesting.

Some "autumn" species like Crocus laevigatus and Galanthus reginae-olgae have a very long flowering period (C. laevigatus October-March (April)). In the case of the Galanthus the "spring" flowering form is given taxonomic recognition. An example of an autumn subspecies of a spring Crocus is C. biflorus ssp. melantherus.

[razvan chisu]

Hello
The plants in the field and the herbarium sheet have no leaves. Also the bulb is caracteristic of Colchicum not of Bulbocodium.
I was curios if plants in cultivation of this variety flower each year at the same time (spring.)
Razvan

[Anthony Darby]

Here's two pics of Colchicum minutum. One after the mice got to it and the other plant in the pot.

[mark smyth]

I have something similar in flower with out a label. In one of my troughs is C. cretense. The second shot was taken with the aid of a shaving mirror to reflect the sun light behind a stone

[David Nicholson]

On reflection the second picture looks better

[Anthony Darby]

I thought Colchicum cretense flowered in October/November?

[mark smyth]

very funny, David.

Anthony that's what it was bought as. I have photographed it before now so I comment

[Anthony Darby]

Cretense should have brown anthers.