Sternbergia colchiciflora

Sternbergia colchiciflora is the smallest of the autumn-flowering 'gold crocuses', native to the Mediterranean region through to the Caucasus. Its tiny bulb (0.5 to 1.5 cm) produces a single narrow-tepalled yellow flower that emerges almost stemless directly from the ground between September and November — the thin, twisted leaves only appear after flowering. Extremely discreet and rare, it grows in dry, chalky garrigue.