Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

Plant Identification => Plant Identification Questions and Answers => Topic started by: Paul T on April 14, 2007, 07:20:59 AM

Title: Crocus with lost identity
Post by: Paul T on April 14, 2007, 07:20:59 AM
Howdy All,

This is growing in my friend Lyn's garden.  She has lost the tag (darn blackbirds) and we aren't sure what it is.  Anyone like to hazard a guess?  To give you an idea of the sequence..... it is autumn flowering (we're Southern Hemisphere) with the Crocus pulchellus just finishing, the banaticus already over, and the C. goulimyi just coming into full flower.  Does that give some idea of what it might be?  It is very different to anything else she has flowering right now. 

Unlike me she has lots in flower in her garden while mine have barely started.  Her C. serotinus ssp salzmanii have already been and gone whereas mine are only just starting to open their flowers in the last couple of days.  Microclimates make such a difference between gardens.

If anyone knows what the species is please let me know.  It really is such a lovely flower that we'd love to have a name for it.  There are a good clump of them flowering so it isn't likely to be a new seedling or anything like that, but a named/species variety that has lost it's tag.  Thanks in anticipation.
Title: Re: Crocus with lost identity
Post by: tonyg on April 14, 2007, 08:17:42 AM
Hi Paul - The lack of leaves at flowering is not typical (they will probably soon appear) but it looks very like C longiflorus.  Flower colour, markings, style and anthers fit this taxa.
Title: Re: Crocus with lost identity
Post by: Paul T on April 14, 2007, 09:03:37 AM
Tony,

I had thought the same thing, but what Lyn has labelled as longiflorus is quite different apparently.  I'll check with her to be certain.  Maybe they are just different colour forms.

One of them was 6 inches away where it apparently had been moved by birds or something.  It too had no leaves.  For reference, there were 4 or 5 flowers, all without any leaves. 
Title: Re: Crocus with lost identity
Post by: Lesley Cox on April 24, 2007, 12:20:12 AM
I agree with Tony. I saw lots of C. longiflorus in Australian gardens. Mine here is the same.
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal