Colchicum melanthoides subsp. melanthoides flowers

The inflorescence of Colchicum melanthoides subsp. melanthoides consists of about six small flowers.

They are less conspicuous than their encircling cup of large white or pale lilac bracts. These bracts or modified leaves are broad, tapering to their tips and striped longitudinally. There are about four or five of these bracts, some may not develop fully. Their greenish or mauve stripes have brought the plant the colloquial name of pyjama plant.

The flowers in the dense central head shown here have yellow anthers and tiny, pointed tepals. Flowering occurs in winter. This photo was taken in June. Some sources put the blooming season later in the year (Manning, 2009; Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982).