Colchicum: The Complete Guide

Saturated with colour, colchicums are the spirit of ebullience. This authoritative guide from Christopher Grey-Wilson, Rod Leeds and Robert Rolfe explores all 104 species in detail with more than 80 of the most widely grown cultivars having been illustrated and fully described. Accompanied by 220 photographs and featuring a key to aid identification, this astonishing piece of work delves into the history of the introduction of colchicums to cultivation by plant explorers, the use of colchicine in medicine as well as detailed information on plant breeding and an explanation for the great diversity of colchicums in gardens today. Spread over more than 550 pages and featuring a checklist of around 560 cultivars and scientific names, with synonymy and other valuable information including introducers, dates and descriptions as well as advice on cultivation and the best ways to use colchicums in gardens, this guide is a complete botanical and horticultural account of these charismatic plants.