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Colchicum cilicicum

Cilician meadow saffron

A cormous perennial 10cm high with semi-erect, narrowly elliptic to elliptic-lance-shaped leaves, 30-40cm long, from winter to spring, and 3-25 funnel-shaped flowers, 4-7.5cm long, with purplish pink tepals, sometimes deeper in colour towards the blunt tips, in autumn; colchicums are a useful late-season source of pollen for honeybees

Synonyms

Colchicum decaisnei misapplied
Colchicum balansae var. macrophyllum
see moreColchicum × byzantinum var. cilicicum
Colchicum × byzantinum auct.

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Ultimate height

0.1–0.5 metres

Time to ultimate height

2–5 years

Ultimate spread

0.1–0.5 metres

Chalk

Loam

Sand

Moisture

Moist but well–drained

pH

Acid, Alkaline, Neutral

	Stem	Flower	Foliage	Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Full sun

Aspect

East–facing or South–facing or West–facing

Exposure

Exposed or Sheltered

Hardiness
Hardiness ratings
All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets
H1a: under glass all year (>15C)
H1b: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
H1c: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)

Botanical details

Family: Colchicaceae
Native to the UK: No
Foliage: Deciduous
Habit: Clump forming
Potentially harmful: TOXIC if eaten. Wear gloves and other protective equipment when handling TOXIC to pets - see the HTA guide to potentially harmful plants for further information and useful contact numbers
Genus: Colchicum are cormous perennials with usually coarse, broadly strap-shaped leaves which appear with or after the goblet-shaped flowers
Name status: Correct
Plant range: Turkey Syria Lebanon

How to grow

Cultivation

Using gloves to handle corms, plant 10cm deep in summer or early autumn in deep, fertile and well-drained but reasonably moist soil in an open site in full sun; for more advice, see bulb cultivation

Propagation

Propagate by seed, sown in containers in an open frame as soon as it is ripe, or by removing cormlets when dormant in summer; for more advice, see bulb propagation

Suggested planting locations and garden types

Cottage and informal garden
Gravel garden
Rock garden
Wildlife gardens
Flower borders and beds
Wall side borders

Pruning

No pruning required

Pests

May be susceptible to slugs

Diseases

May be susceptible to grey moulds (Botrytis), smuts, and tulip grey bulb rot

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