Allium cristophii, (often mispelt as Allium christophii) is endemic to the Koppe Dagh mountain range that borders Turkmenistan and Iran. The earliest known specimen of this extraordinary Allium was collected in Persia by Baron Clément Augustus Gregory Peter Louis de Bode, the Prime Secretary of the Russian Embassy in Tehran and was named after him as Allium bodeanum. In or around 1883, the physician and plant collector Dr Cristoph collected it in the Koppe Dagh and the species was then described by Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter honouring Cristophe. For some reason, it is often mispelt as Allium christophii. It was later introduced to cultivation by the Dutch bulb specialist, van Tubergen under the name Allium albopilosum. The form that we grow today as Allium cristophii is derived from this early twentieth century introduction but Reinhard Fritsch - who has done more taxonomic work on Alliums than anyone on the face of the planet - has established there is a large variability in Allium cristophii in the wild and proposed two subspecies: ssp cristophii and ssp golestanicum which has broader woolly leaves and has silvery-brown tepals. He has collected several other forms for future description.

The form sold here is just the good-old-familiar Star of Persia: ridiculously flamboyant metallic violet starbursts belng utterly beautiful.

As with Allium schubertii you will need to leave plenty of room in your planting for those very large umbels.

Close your eyes, dream of some startling new planting combination to use with Allium cristophii and slip into a very pleasant gardening reverie...