Description
An autumnal Turkish species with several 2-2.5 cm diameter flowers in a tuft of about half a dozen, during September and October. These are pale to dark pink with yellow anthers and quite narrow, starry petals.
The name polyphyllum refers to their ‘many leaves’, which are quite incredible. These are thin and numerous, as many as 10-12, each no more than 3-4 mm wide. They are present with the flowers in October.
Ideal for pot cultivation, but they are sufficiently robust to grow outside, in a spot where they can be seen. Outside and in, they wil need a well-drained, loam-based compost in full sun. This species likes a light and dryish situation, it strongly resents wet, badly drained sites.
This is a plant badly confused in the literature. You will often see it cited as a synonym of stevenii, which is simply not true, they are two very different species. The mistake has arisen as the name stevenii was incorrectly given to a new species by one botanist who was unaware that the name was already validly in use for another plant. You may thus see this mis-identified on some website, ours is the true Turkish plant.
