Family |
Colchicaceae
Colchicum decaisnei
Boiss.
Colchicum decaisnei Boiss.
(First published in Diagn. Pl. Orient. ser. 2, 4: 103 (1859); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1; 1966)
• Life-form & habit : Perennial bulbous geophyte; corm ovoid, covered with dark brown tunics; plant leafless at flowering; flowers emerging directly from the ground.
• Leaves : Produced after flowering, 3–6, linear-lanceolate, 10–25 cm long, glabrous, forming a basal tuft.
• Inflorescence & flowers : Flowers solitary or few, appearing in autumn; perianth funnel-shaped, pale lilac to pinkish; tube long and slender; segments 6, oblong, spreading; stamens 6, shorter than perianth segments.
• Fruit : Capsule ovoid, developing at ground level among the leaves in spring; seeds numerous, brown.
• Phenology : Flowers from September to November; fruiting from March to May.
• Habitat & elevation : Rocky slopes, open grasslands and montane clearings; 800–1800 m.
• Lebanese distribution : Scattered in Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon; local.
• Native range : Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Türkiye.
• Diagnostic remarks : Distinguished by its autumnal flowering and slender perianth tube; differs from related species by its narrower leaves and phenological pattern.