Autumn crocus
Colchicum autumnale L.
- light
- Sun–part
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 18 cm
- wide
- 18 cm
Colchicaceae
Also called Meadow saffron, Meadow Saffron, Naked lady
Formerly Bulbocodium antumnale, Colchicum borisii, Colchicum bulgaricum, Colchicum crociflorum, and 9 more
When it flowers
Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Tuberous geophyteKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- TemperateKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- EuropeKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun to part shade (3 h or more)Read from NC State Extension, one source
- Height
- 15 cm to 20 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Spread
- 15 cm to 20 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Flowers
- White, pink, purpleRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Coldest it survives
- -34.4 °C (USDA zone 4a)Read from NC State Extension, one source
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- Serbian
- Мразовац
- Swedish
- Hösttidlösa, Nakna jungfrun, Tidlösa
- Ukrainian
- Дикий шафран, Зимовик, Морозець
- Vietnamese
- Bả chó, Cây bả chó
- Walloon
- Colchicum automnale, Coltchike
- Chinese
- 秋水仙
- Simplified Chinese
- 秋水仙
- Traditional Chinese
- 秋水仙
- Chinese (Taiwan)
- 秋水仙
- Spanish
- quitameriendas, azafrán, cólquico
- German
- Herbstzeitlose, Herbst-Zeitlose, Teufelswurz
- Polish
- Zimowit jesienny
Where this comes from
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikipedia, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-25, Public domain
- 3D model: Colchicum autumnale (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.