Asphodeline sp? brevicaulis

This plant is grown in the collection under a provisional identification, as Asphodeline brevicaulis could not be confirmed with certainty. The species is native to the eastern Mediterranean as far as Iran, where it grows in rocky habitats from sea level up to 1900 m. A tuberous-rooted perennial of the Asphodelaceae, it forms a clump of narrow, grass-like leaves from which rises a branched stem 25 to 50 cm tall. The white to yellow, star-shaped flowers, borne in a raceme, open in late afternoon and close the next morning. It thrives in well-drained, stony soil, full sun, and a dry summer dormancy typical of Mediterranean geophytes.