Description
A glorious species flowering in the late autumn. It has wide-open, violet to lilac flowers with black anthers on yellow filaments). The style is bright orange-red and deeply divided into three. The colourings are rich and the flowers are sumptuous with superb contrasts between the red, yellow, black and violet. This is the only one of two, violet-coloured autumnal species with black anthers.
Fairly recently described (1995) this is still both new and rare. It is known in the wild from only a handful of localities, all over limestone in southern Turkey where it grows in and on rocks, cliffs and cliff bases at a relatively low-altitude. This is in a Mediterranean-type climate with hot, dry summers and winter-spring rainfall but any perceived climatic severity is ameliorated by the porous, rocky habitats that it inhabits .
In cultivation it is not difficult, in a well-drained, loam-based compost, probably under glass or in a bulb frame, where it can be given protection from too much rain in winter, coupled with a dryish, warmish summer rest.
Introduced to our lists August 2017
