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A species with a scattered distribution. There are populations in Sicily, the Aegean Islands and Ethiopia.
I don't know where the seed for mine cane from, but I think we can discount Ethiopia (it would have been boasting about it). It has grown easily enough and seems more compact than R.bulbocodium. Plants of the World online says: "The native range of this species is Central Medit. to W. Türkiye. It is a tuberous geophyte and grows primarily in the subtropical biome." The Pacific Bulb Society description says: "Romulea linaresii Parl. is found East Aegean Islands, Greece, Crete, Sicily, Tunisia, and Turkey. It is similar to Romulea ramiflora but each bract has a membranous margin and the entire flower is violet." The description in the AGS online encyclopedia says: "the flowers on short pedicels and appearing almost sessile. Leaves 5-15cm long, low arching or flat on the soil. Flowers 1.7-3.3cm long, violet-purple with or without a darker centre, spring. Sicily, Greece and western Turkey, in open grassy patches in macchie from sea level to 100m or so. R. linaresii itself is confined to Sicily and has flowers 2.4-3.3cm long. R.l. subsp. graeca from Greece and Turkey has flowers 1.7-2.4cm." |
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| 22nd March 2011 | ||