Leopoldia comosa

Bulbous perennial of the Asparagaceae family, Leopoldia comosa is widely spread around the Mediterranean basin and in central and southern Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula to Asia Minor. It grows in dry grasslands, garrigues, roadsides, and cultivated fields, on well-drained calcareous soils, from sea level to the lower mountain levels.

The flowering stem rarely exceeds 20 cm in the dry and rocky grasslands where it naturally grows. Its leaves are linear, channeled, often a bit loose. The inflorescence is immediately recognizable by its bicolored structure: the lower part bears tightly packed, globular fertile flowers of a dark brownish-purple, almost chocolate, topped with a tuft of erect, filiform sterile flowers of a bright violet-blue that constitutes the characteristic tuft.

In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from April to June depending on altitude and latitude. In cultivation, it generally blooms in April-May.

The bulbs were consumed in Italy and Greece, pickled in vinegar after prolonged desalting, a practice that persists in some rural areas. In cultivation, very well-drained soil, dry in summer, full light. Hardy and undemanding, it naturalizes easily.