Romulea columnae, the sand crocus, is a herbaceous perennial in the family Iridaceae. It is a small plant, with thin narrow leaves, and small scape which has small pink, pale purple or violet pointed flowers with darker veining and a gold or yellow throat. It is native to a wide area ranging from western Europe to the Mediterranean.
Romulea columnae grows from a small corm.[3][4] It has one or two basal leaves,[5] and several (up to 3,[4]) cauline (stem) leaves,[3] They are narrow, wiry and curled,[3][4][5] and they can grow up to 10cm (4in) long.[4][5][6] Plants from the Romulea genus are related to members of the crocus genus and look very similar but have several differences, including that Romulea plants do not have a white grove in the centre of their leaves.[7] Also, crocus flowers are stemless and grow directly from the corm, while Romulea plants hold their flowers on a green scape of various lengths. Romulea columnae has a short scape,[3] of up to 3–20cm (1–8in) long.[4][5][7] In the UK, it is only between 3–4cm (1–2in) tall.[4][5]
It blooms early in the year, from February onwards,[3] or between March and May.[4][5] It has one to three flowers per corm,[3][5] most common is a solitary flower,[5] which is small and only reaching between 10 and 12mm across.[4] The flowers are funnel-shaped,[3] and have 6 pointed (at the tip) petals,[4][5] which are equally-sized.[5] They are pink,[5] pale purple,[4][5][6] or violet.[3] They are greenish-yellow,[5] yellow,[4] or golden-yellow at the centre or throat.[3] They have purple,[4][6] or violet veins or a dark midvein and a pair of lighter lateral veins.[5] It has a green spathe which is thin and spindly.[4] It has three stamens, topped by yellow,[5] or bright yellow anthers,[4] and the style is shorter than the stamens.[6]
It is commonly known as sand crocus[3][5] and occasionally as dune crocus.[8] In Malta, it is known as the Lesser sand crocus due to another endemic Romulea species.[9]
Romulea columnae subsp. grandiscapa (Webb) G.Kunkel, Monogr. Biol. Canar. 3: 25 (1972)[7][17] from the Canary Islands,[18] with a flower that is purple with a yellow throat.[19]
It is found growing on free draining sandy soils that make up coastal cliffs slopes,[10] and coastal grasslands.[5][22] It can grow on sandy grounds near the sea,[4] including on golf courses,[8] such as Dawlish Warren course in Devon,[23] which is classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).[24]
In temperate gardens, it is best to grow the plant inside a temperature controlled Alpine house. It can be grown in containers filled with well-drained, loam-based compost. The plant is allowed to dry in summer after the flowers have faded and the leaves become yellow.[3]
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