Sternbergia

Taxobox
name = "Sternbergia"
name = "Sternbergia"


image_width = 200px
image_caption = "Sternbergia lutea"
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Liliopsida
ordo = Asparagales
familia = Amaryllidaceae
genus = "Sternbergia"
genus_authority = Waldst. & Kit.
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision ="Sternbergia lutea"
"Sternbergia sicula"
"Sternbergia candida"
"Sternbergia vernalis"
"Sternbergia clusiana"
"Sternbergia colchiciflora"
"Sternbergia schubertii"
"Sternbergia pulchella"
"Sternbergia greuteriana "
"Sternbergia minoica "

"Sternbergia" is a genus in Amaryllidaceae of around 10 species that show a broad distribution throughout Mediterranean Europe and Asia, and was first described by Clusius in 1601 as "Narcissus", before being redescribed by Carl Linnaeus as "Amaryllis" in 1753. The plant referred to by both these descriptions is now recognised as being "Sternbergia lutea", which was described by Franz von Waldstein and Pál Kitaibel in 1803, although their first validation of the name "Sternbergia" was applied to "S. colchiciflora".

This genus contains a number of species of flowering bulbs which rather resemble the Crocus. These plants produce golden-yellow goblet-shaped flowers borne on stalks some way above the ground that open during the autumn or early winter. The flower is composed of six stamens and a single style attached to an inferior ovary. Long, strap-like leaves may appear with the flowers or sometime after. The only two exceptions to this are "S. vernalis" and "S. candida" which flower in the spring, with "S. candida" producing striking white flowers.

The genus has gained notability due to the wide-spread use of "S. lutea" as a garden plant, and it has been found in cultivation for several hundred years, and the species has become naturalised in many parts of northern Europe, greatly extending the natural range of the species.

References

* Mathew, B. (1983). A Review of the Genus Sternbergia. "The Plantsman" 5: 1–16.
* Mathew, B. (1984). Sternbergia. In: Davis, PH, ed., "Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands" 8: 360–364. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
* Pasche E, Kerndorff, H. 2002. Die Gattung Sternbergia Waldst. & Kit.(Asparagales, Amaryllidaceae) im Vergleich, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der wiederentdeckten Sternbergia schubertii Schenk. "Stapfia" 80: 395–417