Autumn Crocus

We have seen many of these in recent weeks on the drive through France, the following was found on the internet


Also called naked ladies, the autumn crocus flower stem emerges directly from the ground before the leaves which appear several weeks later.

There are about 45 species of autumn crocuses (genus Colchicum). They look similar to the true crocuses (genus Crocus) in the iris family, but are in fact only distantly related.

Crocuses have 3 stamens and autumn crocuses have 6. Crocus leaves are narrow and have a white line down the center; autumn crocus leaves are wider and never have the white stripe. Crocus corms are symmetrical with the shoot on top in the middle; autumn crocus corms are not symmetrical and the shoot comes off a little to the side.