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Colchicum stevenii
Colchicum stevenii, or Steven's meadow saffron, is a species of flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae. Hebrew: סתוונית היורה, Arabic: سَراجُ الغولة, سُورَنْجان
Colchicum species contain colchicine, a substance capable of doubling the chromosome numbers of young dividing cells thus causing genetical changes in the tissues which may be useful in agriculture.
Meadow saffrons were known to the ancients as a dangerous poison (see Colchicum brachyphyllum), and they are presently used as medicinal plants for the treatment of gout, the active agent being the colchicine they contain.
C. stevenii is native to the eastern Mediterranean: Cyprus, the East Aegean Islands, Lebanon, Syria, the Palestine region and Turkey. It is found in fields, meadows, woodland, rocky places along coasts, and lower and middle elevation mountains.
African Crocus · Alpine Autumn Crocus · Colchicum atropurpureum · Autumn crocus · White Autumn Crocus · Colchicum baytopiorum · Colchicum boissieri · Colchicum szovitsii subsp. brachyphyllum · Spring Meadow Saffron · False Autumn Crocus · Tenore Autumn Crocus · Colchicum corsicum
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Colchicum stevenii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
