Plant of the Moment – No.16 Colchicum autumnale

This exquisite clump of Colchicum autumnale – commonly known as Meadow Saffron, Naked Ladies, or in a misnomer liable to bring botanical purists out in a rash, Autumn Crocus – is growing through a mat of Aster divaricatus, which both supports the leafless flowers and offers a degree of protection from soil splash during heavy rain.

Many people don't realise that this species is a UK native (see http://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/index.php?q=plant/colchicum-autumnale for a distribution map), though its range and numbers have declined as a result of habitat loss and, in places, deliberate elimination; Colchicums are toxic to livestock.

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Large glossy leaves – attractive in their own right when fresh – appear in spring but die away by summer. I always look forward to the early autumn flowers, which take me back to the grazing meadows of the Swiss Jura, where we once lived. Meadow Saffron was a harbinger of the Désalpe, when amidst much clanging of bells, herds of cattle would be led down from high summer pastures to their lowland winter quarters, only a matter of weeks before the first snows...