Autumn crocuses – Colchicum autumnale. They are also called Naked ladies because the flowers emerge from the ground before the leaves.
The leaves and bulbs are poisonous, and they look like Spring crocuses, for which they have been mistaken. People have also mistaken them for ransoms or wild garlic.
And now looking at them they look like the gaping mouths of young birds, with the yellow bits. Are they the stamens? I assume so as they are covered in the yellow stuff that has rubbed off onto the petals.
I read recently that the pollen is negatively charged. So when a bee comes calling, the pollen practically jumps onto the bee because the flapping of the bee’s wings creates a positive charge.
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