Plantae > Tracheophyta > Liliopsida > Liliales > Colchicaceae > Colchicum > Colchicum autumnale

Colchicum autumnale (autumn crocus)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Colchicum autumnale, commonly known as autumn crocus, meadow saffron or naked lady, is an autumn-blooming flower that resembles the true crocuses, but is a member of the Colchicaceae plant family, unlike the true crocuses which belong to the Iridaceae family. The name "naked lady" comes from the fact that the flowers emerge from the ground long after the leaves have died back. The species is commonly cultivated as an ornamental in temperate areas, in spite of its toxicity.
View Wikipedia Record: Colchicum autumnale

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-Low
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Hazards [2]  All parts of the plant, but especially the bulb; They cause vomiting, violent purging, serious inflammation of the stomach and bowels, and death; Handling the corms can cause skin allergies in some people;
Lifespan [2]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Bees, Flies, Bats
Structure [2]  Bulb
Usage [2]  The poisonous alkaloid 'colchicine' is extracted from this plant and used to alter the genetic make-up of plants in an attempt to find new, improved varieties; It works by doubling the chromosome number;
Height [2]  6 inches (0.15 m)
Width [2]  6 inches (0.15 m)
Light Preference [3]  Mixed Sun/Shade
Soil Acidity [3]  Moderate Acid
Soil Fertility [3]  Mostly Infertile
Soil Moisture [3]  Moist
View Plants For A Future Record : Colchicum autumnale

Protected Areas

Predators

Cnephasia asseclana (Flax Tortrix Moth)[4]
Cnephasia incertana (Light Grey Tortrix Moth)[4]
Cnephasia pasiuana[5]
Cnephasia stephensiana (Grey Tortrix Moth)[4]
Tricimba cincta[4]

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Uromyces colchici[6]

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3ECOFACT 2a Technical Annex - Ellenberg’s indicator values for British Plants, M O Hill, J O Mountford, D B Roy & R G H Bunce (1999)
♦ 4Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
♦ 5HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 6Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0