Colch1Cum Tunicatum

Colchicum tunicatum Feinb. (Liliaceae) is a perennial geophyte with corms. Every year the old corm is replaced by a new corm from a lateral bud at the base of the flowering shoot. Each corm exists for about 2 growing seasons (Figure 1). The base of the shoot and the corm are enclosed by a tubular cataphyll (spathe) which turns into brown tunics in the following year ⁹ (Figures 1, 2, and 3). The tubular cataphyll and the fiber-like remains of the growth of the previous year connects the corm with the soil surface. The remains of the brown tunics and the bases of the leaves accumulate on one side of the corm. In the Negev Desert near Sede Boqer, as many as 12 to 17 tunics were found in the diggings after porcupines had consumed the corm. ^{10 , 11}