Description
(syn. Gynandriris monophylla)
You may know this under its older name of Gynandriris monophylla though current fashion regards Gynandiris as a part of Moraea.
Related to the even more familiar and widespread Gynandiris sisyrinchium this has miniature, pale blue-violet flowers with a sharply defined bright yellow crest, usually in March and April. These are borne sequentially, in tight clusters at the same time as the long, very thin leaves which grow singly, one from each of the tiny, silk-covered, corms. The single leaf (per corm) and smaller flowers serve to distinguish this from its close relative.
Eastern Crete. parts of Egypt and Libya across to Cyprus, Israel and Jordan. Happy in a well-drained, loam-based compost with sharp drainage and not too much water, a perfect alpine house plant in the UK but surviving well outside in a sunny, raised bed topped with gravel, as long as a summer rest can be given.
