Colchicum boissieri
Jane McGary (Sat, 05 Oct 2013 12:38:19 PDT)

Colchicum boissieri is one of the smaller species from Turkey and is
distinguished by an unusual narrow, cylindrical corm that extends
horizontally, producing offsets much in the manner of a stoloniferous
plant. I have two forms in flower right now, which I don't think I
could have mistaken for anything else because of these strange corms,
yet they appear quite different. One is the plant with rather narrow,
widely separated tepals shown under that name in, e.g., John
Lonsdale's Edgewood Gardens photo collection. The other resembles the
plant shown under that name in Peter Sheasby's "Bulbous Plants of
Turkey and Iran," fig. 434; it has a more compact flower that is a
little darker pink (also not tessellated) with a clearly contrasting
white central zone with "rays" of white. I also have the second form
flowering in the open garden.

I probably sent out both forms when I was selling bulbs a few years
ago, so I apologize for any confusion this has spread. I grew both of
them from seed from reputable collectors, but identifying colchicums
in seed is surely difficult, especially if the corms look the same.

These are both very attractive, easily grown colchicums of modest
size, with small, narrow leaves.

Can anyone comment on the apparent discrepancy between the forms?

Thanks,
Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA