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Colchicum alpinum
Also called Alpine Meadow Saffron
Alpine autumn crocus is a small corm-forming perennial from mountain meadows that flowers in autumn with pale rosy-purple blooms, with leaves appearing in spring. Grow it in well-drained soil in full sun or part shade and let it dry out in summer.
Colchicum alpinum, the alpine autumn crocus, is a corm-forming perennial with pale, delicate rosy-purple flowers, similar to C. autumnale but smaller. It is native to the Alps and the Appennini of Italy, Switzerland, France and Sicily, and cultivated as an ornamental in other regions.
In Sardinia, Colchicum alpinum occurs throughout the interior highlands, with confirmed populations at Ortakis (the type locality), the Supramonte of Orgosolo, Monte Albo, the Mandas–Marghine region and other upland sites. These stands grow both on calcareous outcrops (e.g. Ortakis, Monte Albo) and siliceous terrains (Supramonte d'Otulu), demonstrating an ecological flexibility across substrate types.
Autumn crocus · White Autumn Crocus · Colchicum boissieri · Spring Meadow Saffron · False Autumn Crocus · Tenore Autumn Crocus · Colchicum davisii · Colchicum hungaricum · Colchicum kotschyi · Colchicum lingulatum · Indian Colchicum · Large Leaved Autumn Crocus
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Colchicum alpinum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
