Israel wildflowers | Sternbergia clusiana

Sternbergia clusiana, Sternbergia spaffordiana, Sternbergia, Autumn Crocus, Autumn Daffodil,

Hebrew: חלמונית גדולה, Arabic: قعفور

Scientific name:   Sternbergia clusiana (Ker Gawler.) Spreng.
Synonym name:   Sternbergia spaffordiana Dinsm.
Common name:   Sternbergia, Autumn Crocus, Autumn Daffodil
Hebrew name:   חלמונית גדולה
Arabic name:   قعفور
Family:   Amaryllidaceae, נרקיסיים


Life form:   Geophyte
Stems:   Flowers on short stalks, which elongate after the blooms open
Leaves:   Rosette, linear, margin entire; flowers emerge before the leaves
Inflorescence:   Bundle of 1-5 flowers; spathe 1-valved, tubular below
Flowers:   Yellow funnel-shaped flowers, 5-8 cm, erect; hypanthial tube present; corona absent, filaments much longer than anthers
Fruits / pods:   Capsule, numerous seeds
Flowering Period:   September, October, November
Habitat:   Mediterranean maquis and forest, Batha, Phrygana, Shrub-steppes
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Sternbergia , named for Graf (Count) Kaspar Sternberg (1761-1838), a botanist and writer.

clusiana, named in his honour for Carolus Clusius (1526–1609), seigneur de Watènes, Flemish doctor and pioneering botanist.
spaffordiana, named for Horatio Gates Spafford (1828, Troy, New York – 1888, Jerusalem), a prominent American lawyer, best known for penning the Christian hymn It Is Well With My Soul, following a family tragedy in which four of his daughters died. He was one of the founders of the American Colony in Jerusalem (what would later become the American Colony Hotel).
The Hebrew name: חלמונית, helmonit ,from חלמון, helmon (= yolk).

  • The standard author abbreviation Ker Gawl. is used to indicate John Bellenden Ker Gawler (1764 – 1842), an English botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Spreng is used to indicate Curt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel (1766 – 1833), a German botanist and physician.
  • The standard author abbreviation Dinsm. is used to indicate John Edward Dinsmore (1862 – 1951), an educator and botanist, who moved from Maine to Jerusalem in the 1890’s to join a Protestant commune called The American Colony.

At Lehavim Junction (road 40) turn eastwards (road 31), pass the main entrance to Lehavim. Next to the eastern entrance to Lehavim there’s a KKL parking lot. Park your car and follow the path (parallel to the main road) by foot.

After about 400 meters you’ll see on your right the “Valley of the Sternbergia”.