Colchicum alpinum, DC.

10. C. alpinum DC. in Lam. & DC., Fl. Fr. ed. 3, 3: 195 (1805).

Corm 1-2-5 x 1-1-5 cm, subglobose; tunic membranous or subcoriaceous, reddish-brown, with a long neck. Leaves 2(-3), 8—12(—15) cm x 2-10(-14) mm, developing after anthesis, ligulate to linear-lanceolate, obtuse to subacute, glabrous. Flowers 1(—3); perianth-segments 17-30 x 4-6(-10) mm, purplish- pink (rarely white), oblong to narrowly elliptical, obtuse. Fila­ ments 2-6(-9) mm; anthers 2-3 mm, yellow; pollen yellow. Styles straight; stigmas punctiform. Capsule 15-20 mm, oblong- elliptical. Flowering August to September. 2n = 54,56. Mountain meadows. S. Alps, Appennini, mountains of Corse, Sardegna and Sicilia. Co Ga He It Sa Si.

C. pieperanum Markgraf, Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. Math.-Nat. Kl. (Wien) 328 (1931), described from N.C. Albania (Deja), is like 10 but has decurrent stigmas and is twice as large in all its parts.

Hybrids between 10 and 14 have been reported from the French Alps with chromosome counts of In = 46,47. They are said to be intermediate in characters of perianth-segments, anthers and stigmas.