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Sternbergia candida
White Sternbergia is a rare bulbous plant from south-west Turkey, grown for its fragrant white winter-to-spring flowers. It is one of the more difficult Sternbergia species to keep, needing a dry, warm summer dormancy and sharply draining, lime-rich soil.
Sternbergia candida is a bulbous flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae, which is used as an ornamental. This rare bulbous plant is native only to south-west Turkey, where it grows at around 1,100 m (3,600 ft) elevation on the edges of cedar woods. First discovered shortly before being formally named in 1979, it features sweet-scented white flowers that appear in spring, distinguishing it from the otherwise yellow-flowered members of its genus.
Sternbergia candida is not reliably hardy in countries subject to frost and is then recommended for culture under the protection of at least a cold greenhouse or frame. It is propagated by bulb division. The plant is regarded as one of the more challenging Sternbergia species to maintain in cultivation, largely owing to its exacting moisture and temperature requirements. Successful flowering typically follows deep planting in a sharply draining, lime-rich growing medium, a prolonged dry–warm summer dormancy, and the gradual reintroduction of moisture and cooler conditions in autumn and winter. Under these conditions—often provided in alpine houses or cold frames—plants may produce single, fragrant white flowers from January through March, accompanied by a rosette of evergreen leaves that persist until early summer. Offset production is slow and irregular, and clumps seldom increase rapidly unless the bulbs are afforded additional potassium and magnesium during active growth.
Sternbergia candida is confined to a handful of limestone outcrops near Fethiye in south-western Turkey, where it occupies semi-shaded, stony clearings on the fringes of cedar (Cedrus libani) woodland and surrounding maquis shrubland up to about 1,100 m (3,600 ft) elevation. The type collection was made in January 1979, and subsequent fieldwork indicated that the total area of occupancy is extremely small; heavy digging by commercial bulb hunters poses an immediate threat. Given the combination of a single known locality, intense collecting pressure and slow vegetative increase, the species is regarded as highly vulnerable in the wild.
Sternbergia clusiana · Turkish Starflower · Winter daffodil · Sternbergia minoica · Pretty Sternbergia · Sternbergia schubertii · Sternbergia vernalis · Vascular Plants
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sternbergia candida 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.
