SRGC Guided Tour to Eastern Turkey - May 2012

[DaveM]

Later that day we flew to Trabzon and the next day headed south into the mountains. The first pass - the Zigana at c. 2600 m brought a very familiar array of plants. Snow had almost melted from the turf slopes and literally thousands of Primula vulgaris were unveiled, including the occasional white form.

[DaveM]

Zigana Pass continued.

Primula veris
Viola altaica, both yellow and blue/purple forms
Cyclamen parviflorum - a somewhat uninspiring specie of this wonderful genus. Quite interesting to see how different is its habitat compared with many of the other species - it is truly an alpine turf plant, unlike most others
Daphne glomerata

[DaveM]

Zigana Pass, continued

Gentiana verna ssp pontica

Pale form

[fermi de Sousa]

.... as you might expect from Adil's interest in Iris, the garden features many. Just a couple here - we will see more later in their natural habitats.

Unnamed iris
Iris schachtii
Iris sprengeri

Dave,
more wonderful pics and that unnamed iris is intriguing with its combination of colours!
Is it some sort of I.xiphium?
cheers
fermi

[Claire Cockcroft]

Dave M staring down a field of Helleborus orientalis near Gumushane.

(No suitcase lost but a missed connection in Vancouver -- no surprise, given my luck on this trip. )

[DaveM]

Thank you Claire. So not too bad then 

Fermi - I don't know about the Iris. I don't recall seeing a label and I certainly have no note as to what it is. It does look a bit like a xiphium hybrid. Sorry. As for the copious water in which the Iris reticulata is growing, I think you'll find a recurring theme as I recount more.......

Anyway, continuing with the Zigana Pass. In pine woodland on the south side glades were full  Helleborus orientalis, Primula veris, Anemone blanda, Cyclamen coum and the orchids Dactylorhiza romana (both white and red forms) and Orchis pallens.

[DaveM]

Crossing the Kose Pass on the way to Kayburt we saw our first tulip, Tulipa armena. Sadly the sun had deserted us and the tulips remained resolutely shut
Growing in rock crevices was Sempervivum armenum and scattered around was a frit, probably Fritillaria pinardii.

[DaveM]

The next day we headed to the Kop Dag. On the way up a damp area between converging streams was host to Caltha polypetala, Primula elatior, P. auriculata and the striking Corydalis oppositifolia. We were to see this last species on many subsequent occasions.

[DaveM]

A large part of the area around the Kop Pass is underlain by serpentinite. Here was host to populations of Crocus biflorus ssp. tauri and Colchicum szovitsii. Amongst these the "furry" flower buds of the beautiful dark blue form of Pulsatilla albana were just beginning to unfurl - we were to see this in full flower elsewhere later.

[DaveM]

A little further on from the crocus. again on serpentinite, we seached, unsuccessfully at first, for that most regal of fritillaries, F alburyana. Eventually finding it in some numbers, it clearly prefers stony yet moisture retentive sites. In some parts many of the flowers had been chewed. Though the flower colour seemed fairly constant there was variation in the shape of the flower from strongly campanulate to shallow and open. This was the first of two sites for this fritillaria.

[Armin]

Dave and Claire,
a real delight to follow your report with marvelous images.
Thanks for posting. More please

[DaveM]

A pleasure Armin.

A little out of Erzurum on the road to Cat were meadows with an incredible blue haze - literally thousands of pale blue Bellevalia forniculata. Not an inspiring species on its own, but in such numbers it was quite a sight. The meadow was 2 to 3 cm deep in water - a huge surprise but this is clearly what they need at this time of the year.

To the edge, alongside a small stream were more Caltha polypetala and Primula auriculata. At the base of a slope at the edge of the meadow was the remains of a snow bank. In the very damp 3-4 m wide zone adjacent to the melting edge of the snow grow Colchicum szovitsii, Iris reticulata and Scilla. Any Iris growing outside of this narrow band had already finished flowering. The iris is clearly exploiting the abundant supply of water as the snow melts in order to get its job done.

After plodging back through the water meadow a dry bank contained our first sighting of Iris caucasica. This is a common species in the area over a range of altitude.

[DaveM]

Another meadow in the same region had a different blue haze. Though the meadow was still damp it wasn't quite so wet as the last. A carpet with a lovely mix of the paler Muscari aucheri and the darker Bellevalia paradoxa.

[DaveM]

Just to the south of Erzurum lie the Palandoken mountains, where were the site of the 2011 student winter games. An area so well worth exploring.
On the ski slopes just above the hotels we found:
Scilla siberica ssp. armena
Pulsatilla albana

A little higher where snow was still in small banks:
Androsace intermedia
Thlaspi sintenisii

[DaveM]

The high pass over the Palandoken mountains contains a wonderfully rich flora. Here the bedrock is a mixture of mafic (basalt and gabbro) and ultramafic (serpentinite) rocks.

Gentiana verna ssp pontica
Primula auriculata
Fritillaria armena - by one boulder there was a pile of the bulbs on the surface, just beginning to flower - must have been the food store of a rodent.
Fritillaria caucasica
Ranunculus kochii