Nakedly Lilac. Colchicum bulbocodium, Spring Meadow Saffron, Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin, Dahlem, Germany
Naked Lady or Naked Boys is another common name for this amazingly lilac Spring Meadow Saffron. The name 'saffron' which stand actually for the orange color of the pistils of Crocus sativus is here not used descriptively but in the way of botanical nomenclature. The epithet 'naked' is because these pretty flowers spring forth nakedly from the still cold ground before their green leaves can shelter them.
I was happy to see a couple of patches of Colchicum bulbocodium in a nicely bright Spring Sun as I was ambling through the largest botanical garden of Germany. It was founded in 1809 as one of the ventures of the new University at Berlin, later to become the Humboldt-Universität (see the photo I posted yesterday). It's a truly amazing place, meticulously kept and sign-posted. With a bit of exaggeration it might be said that almost every blade of grass is precisely labeled! And the Botanical Museum is also fine indeed.
Nakedly Lilac. Colchicum bulbocodium, Spring Meadow Saffron, Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin, Dahlem, Germany
Naked Lady or Naked Boys is another common name for this amazingly lilac Spring Meadow Saffron. The name 'saffron' which stand actually for the orange color of the pistils of Crocus sativus is here not used descriptively but in the way of botanical nomenclature. The epithet 'naked' is because these pretty flowers spring forth nakedly from the still cold ground before their green leaves can shelter them.
I was happy to see a couple of patches of Colchicum bulbocodium in a nicely bright Spring Sun as I was ambling through the largest botanical garden of Germany. It was founded in 1809 as one of the ventures of the new University at Berlin, later to become the Humboldt-Universität (see the photo I posted yesterday). It's a truly amazing place, meticulously kept and sign-posted. With a bit of exaggeration it might be said that almost every blade of grass is precisely labeled! And the Botanical Museum is also fine indeed.