.jpg)
Bulbous perennial of the Colchicaceae family, this species is native to Central and Eastern Europe, with a distribution area centered on the Pannonian Basin — Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Romania and adjacent regions — from which it derives its Latin epithet. It occupies dry to mesophilic meadows, calcareous grasslands, edges of light woods and grassy slopes of plains and low mountains, on well-drained and generally calcareous soils.
The plant is medium-sized, producing flowers of a soft lilac pink to pale pink, with well-opened elliptical tepals, borne by a whitish perigonial tube emerging directly from the ground in autumn, without leaves. The foliage, broad, erect and bright green, appears in spring and disappears in early summer, according to the characteristic cycle of the genus. This species is sometimes confused with Colchicum autumnale, from which it is distinguished notably by its geographical area and certain morphological characteristics of the leaves and anthers.
In its natural habitat, flowering extends from September to October. Like all species of the genus, the plant is toxic in all its parts.
In cultivation, it requires well-drained soil, a sunny exposure and tolerates summer drought well. Naturalized in a dry lawn or planted in a rock garden, it establishes itself there permanently without requiring special care.