Description
A fabulous little species which flowers in late winter or early spring. It has flowers in a lovely shade of soft amethyst or pale indigo. The shades always incline towards blue tones rather than red or purple.
All of the flowers have a white throat with no trace of yellow and this is teamed with white anthers and a largely white style (when this is not pure white it bears just a tint of amethyst at the very tip). This is unique in its colouring, instantly recognisable and very distinct from the more well-known species.
A very worthwhile plant in cultivation, growing and flowering well, early in the year (February onwards here) and with a long flowering season and several blooms per (tiny) corm. Best potted, in a loam-based compost, under alpine glass as it flowers so early, but seemingly cold-hardy in the UK in a sunny, well drained site.
Romulea ligustica occurs in just a few places in Sardinia (which is where the seed of this stock originally came from) and at scattered localities in Liguria. It is a red book species but its rarity is probably overstated as it is very inconspicuous when not in flower. It is recorded in Morocco and parts of North Africa.
Although many reports from southern Spain are said to relate not to this species but to mis-identified Romulea bulbocodium. I have found plants of one of these misidentified Romulea which appeared at first to be R. ligustica on the Atlantic side of Spain, south of Cadiz, growing close to the coast in firebreaks within conifer forests. I am told that in fact these occurrences are of the superficially similar R. bifrons, which is virtually identical, other than in anther colour (white in ligustica, yellow in bifrons).
