Description
"Low to short cormous perennial flowering in the autumn before the leaves appear. Leaves 3-4 in a cluster, broad lanceolate, deep shiny green. Flowers pinkish or lilac-purple, rarely white, 4-6 cm long, globet-shaped and crocus-like, with yellow anthers and whitish styles, 1-6 borne from a tubular whitish spathe at ground level. Fruit an egg-shaped green capsule nestling in the middle of the leaves, below ground-level at first but pushed above ground-level with the developing leaves.Habitat: Damp grassy meadows, woodland margins, on neutral or calcareous soils, to 2000m.Flowering Season: August-September.Distribution: Throughout Europe. Naturalized in Denmark and Sweden.The species is poisonous and is known as Herbal Medicine.Related images:"