Description
This species is the only member of the genus Ambrosinia, which is thus monotypic. It has a strictly Mediterranean distribution with its range all within the western Med. It is present with certainty in Sardinia, Sicily and Algeria. It has been found historically on the mainland of Italy in Calabria and Lazio though it is now presumed extinct there. It is now known to grow in several places in southern Corsica, where it was discovered as recently as 1975 thus older books may not even acknowledge its occurrence there. It is however so very inconspicuous that its presence over a wider area might be presumed. Like so many bulbs and tubers of the Mediterranean. Usually native to maquis and garrigue where it is said to grow from sea level to about 600 m. It does appear to favour warmth in cultivation and its wild range and habitats reflect this. We do not give it a lot of heat (keeping it just frost-free) but do not consider it is frost-hardy here.
Ambrosinia makes a small rosette of individually tiny leaves, each not much bigger than a thumb nail and these are held in a tiny, tight cluster, each leaf on a short pedicel close to the ground. The leaves are often embossed or veined in a deeper blue-green but this isn’t invariable, our own are mostly plain-leaved, without veining. (I have seen forms illustrated which have small chocolate-brown leaf spot, in the manner of some Biarum). The whole Ambrosinia plant is no more than about 8cm across by a few cm tall, usually less than this in good light. At the base of the wintergreen leaves, at ground level, the tiny, typically Aroid, flowers are borne. These are complex little chambers formed by the fusion of more familiar Aroid floral parts. They are deep green, varyingly mottled in purple. It has to be said that they are very inconspicuous and are easily missed. The flowering period in the wild is given as December to March, under frost-free glass here, they flower when they feel like it between late autumn and early spring. By March they are beginning to show signs of leaf-yellowing and dying back at which time they gradually need less water. Cultivation however is as for most Mediterranean bulbs and aroids, they need good fertility to build and maintain size and to flower. They also appreciate good drainage and a dryish summer rest but do bear in mind that this is a TINY plant, it has tiny leaves, tiny flowers and correspondingly tiny tubers. This means it has minimal resources to depend on if you stress it unduly by incorrect culture, neglect, too much sun, too much cold or the dreaded “I must get round to …..”
The genus is dedicated to the Bartolomeo Ambrosini (1588-1657) the director of the Botanical Garden of Bologna and his brother Giacinto Ambrosini (1605-1671) who succeeded him. The species name commemorates the botanist Ferdinand Bassi of Bologna (1710-1774), who collaborated with Linnaeus in the description of this species.
