Fischer's Sternbergia

Family Amaryllidaceae. Perennial herbaceous bulbous plant up to 40 cm tall. Bulb spherical, up to 7 cm in diameter, scales dark.

This is one of the earliest-flowering plants. In the Botanical Garden of the Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, in sunny and warm weather (plus 7-8°) it blooms in the first days of January. On cloudy days, even at 8-10° of warmth the buds do not open. Short-term frosts (minus 3-5°) completely halt the growth and development of unopened buds, but do not affect their viability. It has been observed that when warm weather is established (plus 7-10°) mass flowering began on January 28-29 and continued until March 4. The duration of flowering depends on the weather conditions. Leaves are green, dull, appearing almost simultaneously with the buds. In a warm dry winter their initial growth was noted on January 3-4, mass growth on January 7-10, beginning of bud formation on January 6, and mass bud formation on the 10th. Flowering began on January 9 and lasted 5-6 weeks, sometimes longer. Each flower lived 8-10 days.