Crocus March - 2019

[Janis Ruksans]

In this entry 4 pictures of Crocus minutus separated by HKEP from Crocus danfordiae. The key feature is white stigma which in typical danfordiae is yellow to orange-yellow. First two are of colours mentioned in original description - white or blue. The third is of striped colour form - not known in danfordiae sensu lato before; and the fourth is yellow minutus - this year it formed very short stigma, hided deep between anthers and not so easy to observe in some flowers. The last picture shows Crocus randjeloviciorum published quite recently from Bulgaria and adjacent Serbia. Earlier it was regarded as very distant C. adamii, distributed only in Caucasus (Georgia and Armenia).

[Janis Ruksans]

Again some puzzle of names. The plants on the first 4 pictures were collected very far from place where C. mysius occur according original description, although I didn't find there any crocus similar to C. mysius. The first two comes from Ulus Dag and were collected without flowers as well as those two from Goldag. When they bloomed I could identify them only as C. mysius. Only this blue one from Ulus Dag looks something different, so I applied epithet - mysius aff.
The last picture is of Crocus simavensis HKEP-0911, got directly from Erich.

[Janis Ruksans]

Now 3 pictures of Crocus nubigena - the first is from Turkey, not far from locus classicus and following two from Lesbos Island, identical with Turkish by key features, but, of course something variable. Last two are Crocus pallidus from Northern Macedonia and Serbia, the last shows 8 flower segments, but it is not permanent.

[Janis Ruksans]

Crocus seisumsiana is growing on Samos Island, looks something similar to nubigena, but invariably has only black connective, whilst in nubigena all anthers are black.
Crocus from Asar-dag is still not identified. It looks very similar to C. brickellii, but has twice as large flowers. I tend to regard it as C. lyciotauricus although description not match in everything, but only partly.
Crocus stridii here is pictured form with stippled back of petals and with yellow anthers - black anthers has apr. half of my plants. They all comes from Wallis collections, as I didn't succeed to find it at locus classicus in very long grass.
The last two are from Iran. The blue one was collected by Jim Archibald W from lake Urmiyeh where according HKEP is growing crocus close to C. roopiae. It was described from Kars province, now in Turkey (former Russia) and its description is very fragmentary, only one feature - absence of yellow in throat is mentioned. But this one has pale yellow throat. My own gathering from "W of lake Urmiyeh" has white flowers with yellow throat. What is the true C. roopiae - I don't know. Another gathering from near Kars has yellow throat, too.
The last picture is Crocus sanandajensis, recently published by HKEP, but collected by myself, too in Iran.

[Janis Ruksans]

The last entry for this morning.
The first shows you very unusual colour form of Crocus tauricus. It is not hybrid but wild collected plant during my last visit there shortly before Russia occupied Crimea.
Crocus thracicus was publish by Turkish botanists from Tu in Europe.
Crocus xanthosus and yataganensis were published by HKEP, xanthosus is my own gathering, yataganensis I got from Erich.
The last is mine Crocus zetterlundii from N Turkey, W and S from Lake Abant, collected at several localities but for the first time together with Henrik Zetterlund which name it is bearing.

[Tony Willis]

Crocus cvijicii, deep yellow form from Mt. Vermion,Greece and pale form from Mt. Magero, FYROM

[Janis Ruksans]

We had very cold night. Temperature outside dropped down to minus 9 C. I still didn't visited greenhouse - I'm waiting for some rising up of temperature - today must be first and last sunny day this week. But still a lot of earlier pictures are not resized for Forum and I  continue showing of them one by other. Hope that no one was already included before...
The first is my pink alatavicus - now in full bloom.
Very beautiful is Crocus atrospermus. Here type gathering from HKEP.
Another from HKEP is Crocus babadagensis HKEP-9708, earlier known as white punctatus
Crocus baytopiorum is unforgettable for its unique flower colour
and last in this entry is unidentified Crocus biflorus group species from Alacbeli in Turkey, got from Jim Archibald

[Janis Ruksans]

Now two unnamed gatherings of biflorus group from Turkey - two pictures of each.
The first was collected by J. Person from Gothenburg SE from Avlan Golu in Turkey,
Next is mine gathering from Malatya province - very beautiful but still without name. Crocuses there are very difficult taxonomically - something different by DNA, but is it worth to regard them as different from neighbours?
And the last represents Crocus adamii group from Iran.

[Janis Ruksans]

Yesterday we had some semi-sunny hours and more pictures were maid.
The first pair is the dark and the white forms of Crocus abantensis.
Crocus aerius JJJL-010 ortiginally comes from Zigana Pass.
Then white form of Crocus antalyensioides selected by Antoine Hoog
and Crocus Crocus antalyensis from Tuzla Beli

[Janis Ruksans]

In this entry several of Crocus biflortus group gatherings which I still didn't identified.
The last from SE of Ardahan was received as C. roopiae and it comes from place where this species could grow, but according description roopiae hasn't yellow throat.

[Janis Ruksans]

Still two more (3 pictures) unidentified samples from Turkey
Then C. brickellii - similar to danfordiae but note the stigma, which well overlaps anthers. In true danfordiae stigmatic branches this season mostly ends slightly over base of anthers and only rarely reach the middle of them.
And last in this entry - Crocus caelestis from HKEP

[Janis Ruksans]

As H. Kerrndorff put under doubt mine C. duncanii I this year repeatedly visited its locus classicus and few other spots where it was found before. Unfortunately we hadn't time to visit Crocus carpetanus wild populations, so for comparing here is used 2 gatherings of last in cultivation. You can easy note the difference in flower segment shape of both species. Flowers of carpetanus are round and "fat", whilst flower segments of C. duncanii are narrow and "slim".

[Janis Ruksans]

After blue, blue, blue now comes yellows
The first is typical true C. chrysanthus from locus classicus - Northern Macedonia. Note the stigma which very significantly overtops anthers.
In Greek Macedonia on Mt. Falakro growth another chrysanthus like crocus where stigma ends at tips of anthers. Unfortunately I haven't possibility to compare DNA of both.
On other side of Aegean Sea in Turkey all "chrysanthus like" crocuses has stigmatic branches hidden between anthers and they belongs to several different species, only few of them are recently published.
At first form from near Afyon in SW Turkey
And then two from yaila below Kaan gec in Central Turkey - the lighter was found as single individual between millions of deep yellow.

[Janis Ruksans]

The first picture shows another pale yellow nutation of "C. chrysanthus" from Bozdag at W coast of Turkey.
Then another chrysanthus s.l. got from Norman Stevens
And then 2 hybrids - the first was grown up by me from seeds received from AGS as "artvinensis"and the second is hybrid raised by Augis Dambrauskas from Lithuania. It was named as 'Bronze Age'. Still saw it only in buds, flowers not yet opened.

[pehe]

Crocus cvijicii, deep yellow form from Mt. Vermion,Greece and pale form from Mt. Magero, FYROM

Beautiful cvijicii forms!
The dark one looks almost as scardicus

Poul