Romulea columnae, the sand crocus, is a herbaceous perennial in the family Iridaceae.

[4][5][6] Plants from the Romulea genus are related to members of the crocus genus and look very similar but have several differences, including that Romulea plants do not have the traditional crocus feature of having a white grove in the centre of their leaves.

[8] In Malta, it is known as the Lesser sand crocus due to another endemic Romulea species.

[14] There are 4,[1] or 2 known subspecies (grandiscapa and rollii);[2] Romulea columnae is native to various temperate areas of western Asia,[14] Africa and Europe.

[12][13][1] Within Africa, it is found in Macaronesia, (within the Madeira Islands, Canarias[13][1]), Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

[12] It is found in the Asian countries of Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and western Turkey.

[24] In temperate gardens, it is best to grow the plant inside a temperature controlled Alpine house.