Colchicum stevenii
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
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Colchicum stevenii, or Steven's meadow saffron, is a species of flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae. Hebrew: סתוונית היורה, Arabic: سَراجُ الغولة, سُورَنْجان
Description
Perennial. Corm oblong, tunics blackish prolonged along the sheath. Leaves 5-7, glabrous, very narrow, appearing at the same time as flowers. Flowers fasciculate, 3-10, short, pink, surrounded with a transparent sheath. Tube 5-6 times longer than perianth. Tepals obtuse or subacute, 20 mm long over 2–3 mm wide. Stamens yellowish, a little shorter than the filiform styles. It flowers in October–December, coinciding with the onset of the rainy season in the Levant, and is one of the first autumn flowers to bloom. Its violet-pink flowers will cover the burnt-out vegetation overnight after the very first rain.
Taxonomy
Distribution and habitat
C. stevenii is native to the eastern Mediterranean: Cyprus, the East Aegean Islands, Lebanon, Syria, the Palestine region and Turkey.{{citation |title=Colchicum stevenii Kunth |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:533392-1 |work=Plants of the World Online |access-date=2020-11-14 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} It is found in fields, meadows, woodland, rocky places along coasts, and lower and middle elevation mountains.
Chemistry
Colchicum species contain colchicine, a substance capable of doubling the chromosome numbers of young dividing cells thus causing genetical changes in the tissues which may be useful in agriculture.
Meadow saffrons were known to the ancients as a dangerous poison (see Colchicum brachyphyllum), and they are presently used as medicinal plants for the treatment of gout, the active agent being the colchicine they contain.Mustapha Nehmeh, Wild Flowers Of Lebanon, National Council For Scientific Research,1978,page139.
External links
- [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=1094120 Colchicum stevenii] on NCBI
- [https://eol.org/pages/1087048 Colchicum stevenii Kunth] on Encyclopedia of Life
- [http://legacy.tropicos.org/Name/18404855 Colchicum stevenii Kunth] on Tropicos
- [https://www.gbif.org/species/2739613 Colchicum stevenii Kunth] on GBIF
References
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- Georges Tohme & Henriette Tohme, Illustrated Flora of Lebanon, National Council For Scientific Research, Second Edition 2014.
- George Sfikas, Wildflowers of Cyprus, Efstathiadis Group; 1st edition, 1998
- Avi Shmida, Handbook of Wildflowers of Israel, Keter, 1992
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Category:Flora of the East Aegean Islands
Category:Flora of Lebanon and Syria