Vern.: ‘Surinjan talakh’.

Corm ovoid, oblong, 1.5-3.5 x 1-2 cm, flattened at the base, longitudinal groove on one side; coat brown to dark-brown, membranous. Leaves 3-6, appearing at flowering time, linear to broadly linear, 10-20 x 0.5-2 cm, apex obtuse. Flowers yellow, infundibuliform, 3-4 cm across. Tepals 6, united below into a long, narrow tube, up to 9 cm long; segments linear to oblanceolate, 2-3 cm long, acute to obtuse. Stamens 6, attached at the base of the perianth segments, included; filaments 4-5 mm long; anthers yellow, linear, 1-1.5 cm long, basifixed. Ovary superior, trilocular; styles 3, filiform, longer than the stamens; stigma minute. Ovules many. Fruit capsular, ovoid, up to 3 cm long, dehiscence septicidal with recurved beaks; seeds numerous, globose, 2 mm in diameter.

Fl. Per.: February to May depending on the altitude.

Type locality: Described from Kashgar, Central Asia.

Distribution: Central Asia, Afghanistan, Himalayas in Pakistan and India.

An early flowering species, soon after the snow melts. Fairly common from 1500 to 3000 m altitude. The seeds and the corm contain the alkaloid, Colchicine, which is used in medicine to relieve pain and inflamation and in plant breeding work to induce doubling of chromosomes.