Its bright golden yellow flowers appear when the snow melts in March. A single flower (2.5-3 cm in diameter) is located at the top of an aerial shoot 10-12 cm high. Directly under the flower are two fused leaves with narrow lobes. Plants are not afraid of frost and after thawing they continue to bloom as if nothing had happened. Flowering lasts 2-3 weeks. During the flowering period, the shoot grows up to 20 cm and by the time the seeds ripen - in the second half of May - it lodges and dries up. The tuber is more or less rounded, up to 2.5 cm in diameter, dark brown with several (2-5) lateral outgrowths, in the tissue of which renewal buds are located. When analyzing tuberous buds in August, the rudiments of leaves and flowers of the future growing season are visible in them.
It reproduces well both vegetatively (by dividing the tuber) and by seeds. Seedlings bloom 4-6 years after sowing.
The homeland of the spring-grower is Southern Europe: southern regions of France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria. It is found in forests under deciduous trees, on mountain slopes, on well-drained alkaline soils.
In 1979, the variety was obtained in Holland 'Guinea Gold ' with large lemon-yellow sterile flowers.
Marina Baranova, candidate of biological sciences
(Based on materials from the magazine "In the world of plants", No. 9, 2004)
