This genus was named after Count Kaspar Moritz of Sternberg (1761-1831). The author of "Revisio Saxifragarum" (1810). The flowers visually resemble those of crocus, but there are essential differences. The main ones: Sternbergia has six stamens, the crocus three. They probably belong to the plants referred to in the Bible as 'the lilies of the field'. For a sunny position in permeable soil where there is sufficient heat in summer during dormancy.