Sternbergia lutea

Thank you again to yildizkonca@Flickr of Turkey for sharing with Botany Photo of the Day (original 1 | original 2 | additional image | BPotD Flickr Group Pool). It''s always pleasing to see photographs of a species of Turkey''s famed bulb flora!

Usually known as winter daffodil, lily of the field, yellow / golden autumn crocus, or sternbergia, these common names are suggestive of the fact that this species is an autumn-blooming bulbous plant correlation to daffodils (narcissus). Sternbergia lutea is listed by GRIN as having an obscure native range, due to its cultivation as an ornamental throughout the Mediterranean region. It has escaped cultivation and become naturalized elsewhere in the world as well, including southern Australia.

Paghat has written about Sternbergia lutea in her garden, while North Carolina State University provides a factsheet on the species. For an overview of the genus, the Pacific Bulb Society Wiki features photographs and descriptions of seven species of Sternbergia, including the rare, white-flowered Sternbergia candida.

For local readers of BPotD, this species can be seen in UBC Botanical Garden, though I don''t recall noticing it last week when walking near where it is planted in the Winter Garden. Its floral display may be over for the year. Posted by: Daniel Mosquin    Source