Sternbergia pulchella Boiss. & Blanche

From: Mathews (1983). Permission has been granted both by the publisher and the author.

S. pulchella Boiss. and Blanche, Diagn. Ser. 2,4:9 (1859).


This was described from Lebanon, between Tripoli and Eden, from flowering material gathered by Emmanuel Blanche in November 1854. The leaves are developed at flowering time but in spite of this the possession of very small flowers has led to the speculation that it is related to S. colchiciflora, which is leafless at flowering time. I have seen the original specimens and could see no difference between them and S. sicula; there is however, as far as I can trace, no other record of S. sicula from Lebanon and one would like to see some living material collected in the area before making a final decision about the identity of S. pulchella.