Colchicum umbrosum, Steven

13. C. umbrosum Steven , Nouv. Mém. Soc. Nat. Moscou 1: 264 (1829).

Corm 1 -5-2-5 x 1-1-5 cm, ovoid to subglobose; tunic dark brown, subcoriaceous to coriaceous, with a long neck. Leaves 3-5, 8-12 cm x 13-20 mm, developing after anthesis, ligulate, obtuse, glabrous. Flowers (1—)2—6; perianth-segments 16-30 x 2-6 mm, linear-elliptical, obtuse. Filaments up to 6 mm: anthers 2-3 mm, yellow; pollen yellow. Styles straight, shortly curved at apex; stigmas shortly decurrent. Capsule up to 20 mm, elliptic-oblong. Flowering August to September. Woods and wet meadows. Krym. Rs (K). (Caucasus, Anatolia.)

C. laetum Steven , op. cit. 262 (1829), from S.E. Russia, differs from 13 chiefly in its shortly decurrent stigmas, but in the size of its perianth-segments and in its leaf-characters it approaches 14. C. fominii Bordzil. , Feddes Repert. 40: 373 (1936), from S.W. Ukraine and S.E. Romania, is said to differ from 13 in its oblong to oblong-ovoid corms and slightly larger flowers. The status of both these taxa requires further investigation.