Sternbergia sicula - Repost

Mark Wilcox marque219@yahoo.com
Sun, 12 Jan 2003 15:11:10 PST
Dear all,

I took this picture of Sternbergia sicula at the top of the mountain on which Acrocorinth sits, near ancient Corinth in the Greek Peloponnese, during a vacation there in October.  It was amazing to me to come upon what must be a pocket in the rock into which soil must've formed over time from the accumulation of various plant debris.  Then, either man or bird dropped a seed into the hole, which took root and grew into a plant of flowering size.

The picture also shows that S. sicula must be floriferous: 4 flowers past their prime, 1 in bloom (if slightly munched by something), and at least 2 more waiting their turn.  If it does this well under unusual conditions, how much better could it do in the garden?

With respect to digital photography, I must say that the yellow in this shot is much more true-to-life than I normally get.  Could that be due to the fact that the rest of the picture is basically a neutral gray?

While I saw this plant elsewhere, both in the wild or in what were obviously tended gardens, nowhere else was it as delightfully unexpected as here.

	Mark Wilcox
	Washington, DC



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