Biarum ?
Jane McGary (Tue, 01 Apr 2014 18:44:48 PDT)

Jude wrote

I have grown a number of Biarum species from seed and also grow
Biarum davisii which I got from a friend. The seed germinates readily
after sowing and forms small tubers that can be moved on after one
year. I find that the plants respond best to a free root run (I now
have them in raised beds) but can also be grown for a long time in
pots. However, in pots they do not reach anything like the size they
achieve in nature. I keep them dry in summer. They flower at odd
times of year, some in late summer before the leaves emerge, and some
have an unpleasant scent. Some that I grow increase well
vegetatively, such as Biarum karduchorum, while others remain as a
single tuber. Slugs will prey on the leaves of some but not others.

Biarum davisii and Biarum marmarisense, which I think some botanists
regard as the same species, are available commercially and are
especially valued for their pink spathes. Most of the others have
blackish or dark reddish spathes and black spadices.

All the ones I've grown have leaves of modest size and make
comfortable companions to other bulbs.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA