Description
Pale violet-blue flowers in spring, with the outer segments lined and beautifully feathered in darker blue-violet. The feathering varies from good, to very intense, but the stock is variable in this respect and we have none separated, this is after all, the true, wild-type plant and not a selected clone. Inside the flowers are paler with a noticeable shade difference between the inner and the outer segments. In the centre of each flower sits a trifid orange style and bright, chrome-yellow anthers.
We do not find this a difficult species, given a fertile, well-rained, loam-based compost and a dry summer rest, but one which is not too severe.
The plant was first discovered in Turkey, by Helmut Kerndorff & Erich Pasche, growing in the central Taurus (Kuyucak Dağları), Antalya province, 1000–1800 m, 26.2.2000. These corms are raised from German seed but we cannot make the full connection to HKEP.0007 which was the type collection. The plant was described as a new species in Stapfia 101: 10 (2014) though it seems that it has been in cultivation for some years, under other (wrong) names.
