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White Autumn Crocus

Colchicum balansae

Colchicum balansae is a bulb that flowers in autumn with white to rosy-purple blooms, with the leaves appearing in spring and dying back by summer. It thrives in a sunny to lightly shaded spot with a dry summer rest, and it is very toxic.

Family
Colchicaceae (Colchic family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water moderately while leaves are growing in spring, then keep dry during summer dormancy.
Soil
Free-draining soil, such as sandy loam or gritty mix; avoid waterlogging.
Temperature
Hardy to about -15 °C when dormant; protect from prolonged frost while in leaf.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic: All parts, especially the corms and seeds, contain colchicine and related alkaloids that cause severe gastrointestinal and systemic poisoning.
Native range
Greece (Attica, Poros) to SW. & S. Türkiye and NW. Syria
Climate
subtropical

About

Colchicum balansae is a variable species of flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae, producing white to rosy-purple flowers in the autumn season. The flowers are borne low to the ground, but can come from bulbs 50 cm (20") below the soil surface. The leaves are absent at flowering time; they start growing in the spring and can reach up to 30 cm (12") long. This species is native to southern Turkey and to Greece (Attica, Poros, Rhodes).

Other Colchicum plants

Alpine Autumn Crocus · 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 balansae 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.

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