Description
A rare, spring-flowering species from southern Turkey with white to pale blue-violet flowers which may, or may not, be marked and striped on the exterior with purple lines. There can also be a dark basal blotch. The anthers are yellow however the anther connective (usually quite a diagnostic feature) varies from white to black, via grey or dark yellow shades in different collections.
It is a glorious species making a super display in February. We grow it in pots only here, but with no special treatments, other than fertile compost, good drainage and a dry summer rest.
Most of the recent finds of C. pseudonubigena including the stock that we now offer, seem to come from, or be traceable to, the area around Gaziantep in S. Turkey, near the Syrian border, though the species ranges, in dry Oak maquis, as far east as Siirt province (from where it was first described). With such a huge range, it is not surprising that the species (if indeed it is only one species) is very variable.
