Description
(Leopoldia erdalii)
This plant was first found in March 2011 by Erdal Kaya in Mersin (Mut-Kirobasi), and subsequently cultivated in the Geophyte Garden at the Yalova Research Institution. Following flowering in May 2012 and May 2013 it was realised that this was a new species belonging to the subgenus Leopoldia. Original description
M. erdalii is most closely related to both M. tenuiflorum and M. babachii, but it differs in having both glaucous foliage and a glaucous scape and this scape is much shorter than in the related species. The margin s of the leaves are covered in minute bristles so that they feel rough (scabrid) to the touch and the lower fertile flowers are ivory to greenish ivory and they are glaucous too. The sterile flowers are violet and constitute only a small section of the flowering spike. The fertile flowers are purple before their pollen ripens and thus the ivory colour appears to move up the flower spike as it matures.
Very distinct and it is a favourite here as it is an excellent species for a pot under alpine glass (it is simply too new a species to have been risked outside yet). We use a well-drained, loam-based compost and the dwarf habit suits it well to cultivation like this where the short stems display the flower spike beautifully.
Seed-raised in cultivation from seed distributed by Yalova Research Institution.
Introduced to our lists April 2019.
