Description
First described by Boissier as far back as 1846, (Boiss., Diagn. Pl. Orient. 7: 109, 1846) this is a very characteristic species, yet one which remains both scarce and little known in cultivation. This is perhaps more remarkable as this is the only Bellevalia which naturally has cream flowers with yellow anthers (once they have dehisced and made pollen that is, they are purple when immature – see picture) .
It has very long, beautifully glaucous leaves up to 35 cm in length and above the foliage it makes from 1-5 flower spikes, at intervals, with each lasting a few weeks in cooler weather, as flowering develops along the bud spikes.
In the wild this extends across north west Syria as far as Lebanon and north eastern Israel. In view of its southerly wild range and as it is still rare, we keep it under frost-free glass. We have not yet risked it outside. Other bulbous plants from areas are sometimes tender but others are hardy, so we are simply hedging our bets rather than saying it isn’t hardy. It grows here under the same conditions as most of our other species in a well-drained, loam based soil with summer dryness.
