Description
A species belonging to the subgenus Melanocrommyum which was described as recently as 2009. (A subgenus is a group of clearly related species within a genus) but it has an uneasy kinship. Indeed even the author seems unsure as to where its affinities lie. In fact it is very distinctive and stands out and stands rather alone in this sub-genus.
It is unusually slender and short, in a group, where wide-leaved, tall plants dominate. Standing only some 25 cm high, with rather linear leaves and bearing a rather lax, globose umbel of numerous small purplish-pink (purple on their mid-veins) flowers.
We find it lovely. It will grow outside, or in a bulb frame but with its smaller size and slender appearance it is perhaps the only one in this group that could truly be recommended for pot-growing and half a dozen bulbs will fit comfortably in a 12cm pot.
This stock is traceable to S.W. Darwas in southern Tajikistan. It seems to be found nowhere else and is likely to be a very narrow endemic.
To our knowledge this had never been offered anywhere else before our 2015 introduction.
Introduced to our lists July 2015.
