Description
(syn. sarmatica)
A rare and still little known plant in cultivation. Although this has a wide range in the wild it seems to have a very sparse distribution.
Early in the year this makes several, dwarf, cylindrical racemes from each bulb (when well established). These are, initially, dwarf and compact and each consists of long-stalked flowers of purple and olive-green which open from violet buds. As the plant develops, so the flower spikes elongate and display even more attractively, then, the already-long pedicels, which carry each flower, elongate even more as the plant sets seed. In the wild, this seed head would then snap off and make a ‘tumbleweed’ to aid seed distribution.
A well drained, fertile loam soil in full sun is best, or a fertile, loam-based compost in a pot if you prefer, though this is fully hardy here.
