Species name :

Romulea ramiflora Tenore
Published in Ten., App. Ind. Sem. Horti Neap. 1827: 3 (1827)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

No Main Synonyms

Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life ]

Plant Family :

Iridaceae Juss. (The Iris Family)
23 species from the Iridaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Sand Crocus (branched)

Maltese name(s) :

Żagħfran tal-blat skars

Status for Malta :

Indigenous. Present on the Maltese islands before man

Frequency :

Very Common     Common     Frequent     Scarce     Rare     Very Rare     Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: GEOPHYTE (bearing underground bulbs, rhizomes, stolons, etc.)
Germination [info]: Monocotyledon

Legal Protection [link]:

Not Protected by Law (LN200/2011 or LN311/2006)

Red List (1989) :

Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands

Flowering Time :

Feb-Mar

Colour of Flowers:

Violet

Remarks :

Old records of R. ramiflora refer to the variable and common species of R. variicolor, but few populations of sand crocus match with R. ramiflora and hence its occurrence in the Maltese islands is not excluded, but its occurrence is very rare in sheltered or damp habitats. In Malta there are 5 taxa of Romulea recorded including one which is alleged to be an endemic. The Romulea species recorded in Malta are :
Romulea melitensis (endemic),
Romulea rollii,
Romulea bulbocodium,
Romulea ramiflora and
Romulea columnae

Habitat in Europe:

Data will be available in the next update of this website.

Preferred habitat in Malta:

Steppe, low garigue, clearings and footpaths in rocky areas and exposed rocky ground near the coast.

Botanical Description:

Basal leaves 2, 6-30 cm x 0.75-1.5 mm, erect or recurved. Cauline leaves up to 4(-6), one on lower part of scape, the others more or less terminal. Scape usually below ground at anthesis, later up to 30 cm, 1- to 4(-6)flowered. Pedicels elongating after flowering to up to 10 cm.Flowers lilac-blue, sometimes with darker veins, sometimes pinkish inside, yellow-green outside; throat white or yellow. Bract 1-2.2 cm, herbaceous, strongly veined. Bracteole with a hyaline margin. Perianth 1-3 cm, the tube 2.5-7 mm; segments oblanceolate or oblanceolate-elliptical, acute. Anthers reaching about 2/3 of the way up the segments. Stigmas just below or just above the top of the anthers. Capsule 1.2-1.6 cm, cylindrical to oblong.

Chromosome number:

2n=36

Distributional range:

Mediterranean region, Portugal.

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):

Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):

the Balaeric Islands, Corse, Crete, France (incl. Monaco and Channel Islands but excluding Corse), Greece, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Italy (excl. Sicily and Sardignia), Portugal, Sardinia, Sicily and/or Malta, Turkey (European part)

Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(Euro+Med Checklist, 2017) - Country codes

AE(G) Ag Bl Co Cr Cy Ga Gr Hs It Li Lu Ma Sa Si Tn Tu(A E)