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Sand Crocus

Romulea columnae

Sand Crocus
Photo: User:Jymm, Public domain
Family
Iridaceae (Iris family)
Grows as
Perennial
Native range
Macaronesia, W. Europe to Medit.
Climate
subtropical

About

Romulea columnae, the sand crocus, is a herbaceous perennial in the family Iridaceae. It is a small plant, with thin narrow leaves, and small scape which has small pink, pale purple or violet pointed flowers with darker veining and a gold or yellow throat. It is native to a wide area ranging from western Europe to the Mediterranean.

How to grow it

In temperate gardens, it is best to grow the plant inside a temperature controlled Alpine house. It can be grown in containers filled with well-drained, loam-based compost. The plant is allowed to dry in summer after the flowers have faded and the leaves become yellow.

Where it grows

Romulea columnae is native to various temperate areas of western Asia, Africa and Europe.

Other Romulea plants

Crocus Leaved Romulea · Romulea cruciata · Common Greenbract Froetang · Romulea hirsuta · Romulea linaresii · Romulea melitensis · Karoo Froetang · Branch Froetang · Romulea requienii · Rosy sandcrocus · Satin Froetang · Twisted Froetang

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Romulea columnae 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.

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