Probably the one and only true fall flower, at least in Europe: The Meadow Saffron’s German name is “Herbstzeitlose” (Herbst = autumn). It blooms now and makes best use of the weaker competition for pollinators. As beautiful as it looks, as poisonous it is, and in earlier times intoxications were not rare among humans as well as grazers. But the alcaloid Colchizin was and is used for medical purposes, too.
At least for the lens it proved to be harmless, and I could sing a similar song of praise for my venerable Minolta 1,4/85 as Andreas Manessinger does for the Nikon counterpart here.
Ahhhh. Beautiful photo. Interesting story. Thanks.