Crocus September 2009

[Thomas Huber]

Uuuppss, sorry Dirk - I didn't notice that you already described the mystery crocus as speciosus 

Hey Tony, nice new photo 

[tonyg]

Hey Tony, nice new photo 

Thanks to RR and Tanya

[David Nicholson]

Thanks Tonyg and Thomas. It opened today and indeed was C. kotschyanus.

[ashley]

Flowering here at present are:

C. goulimyi var. leucanthus with lilac outer tepals and a mild scent that reminds me of some narcissus.

C. pulchellus from the 2007 seedex

This third one, sweetly scented, came as C. hadriaticus.  However its long style branches and heavy veining don't really fit the usual description, and it can key out as C. cartwrightianus.  Can anyone confirm what it is?

[Gerry Webster]

Ashley - the yellow throat suggests C. hadriaticus but the veining and the very low division of the style points to C. cartwrightianus. I wonder if it is a hybrid?

The C. goulimyi is very nice. I also have a bicoloured form & I wonder whether it is in fact just straight C. goulimyi - the basis for the taxonomic distinction of the subspecies is far from clear.

Incidentally, your plants are early compared with mine. Here only noses are showing

[tonyg]

Ashley - I concur with Gerrys' thoughts about your crocuses.  The last one does have rather long style branches for Crocus hadriaticus.  If you can check exactly where they divide  it might help resolve the question of possible hybrid origin.  Having checked through my ( many) pics of different forms of both taxa I cannot find any Crocus cartwrightianus with even a trace of yellow in the throat.  However I can find lilac forms of Crocus hadriaticus with yellow throat and veined flowers although none quite as fine as your form.  Also the length of the style and the point of division does show variation.  So I lean towards the view that your plant falls into the range of variation of Crocus hadriaticus ssp hadriaticus fma lilacinus.  If the style divides right down in the throat of the flower then hybridity remains a possibility.

[Gerry Webster]

Ashley - a further thought. C. cartwrightianus stays open at night, C. hadriaticus does not. I don't know how hybrid forms behave.

[mark smyth]

Ashley, awesome photos of your ?hadriaticus

[Tony Willis]

Ashley lovely pictures particularly the hadriaticus.

A couple of mine open today

Crocus cancellatus from a collection I made in 1993 wrongly titled in photograph
Crocus pulchellus

[mark smyth]

Here are a couple from me
C. pallasii pallasii
C. hadriaticus - the label says var chrysanthus

[Tony Willis]

Tony

a note on my earlier posting of the pallasii,sorry I misread my notes it is a cancellatus

[Gerry Webster]

Here are a couple from me
C. pallasii pallasii
C. hadriaticus - the label says var chrysanthus

Mark - I think this should read 'chrysobelonicus (an invalid name).

[Sinchets]

Flowering yesterday near Topolovgrad in the Sakar Hills of SE Bulgaria- the first flowers of Crocus pulchellus. The plants were mainly found in drainage ditches at the end of open woodland at an altitude of approx. 600m.

[Gerry Webster]

Great to see these in the wild Simon. The flowers look quite large - are they?

[Sinchets]

Hi Gerry- these are the first Crocus of the autumn season we have seen and had only been in flower for a day or two- there will hopefully be many more to ome now the nights are cooling down. They were about 10cm tall from soil level to petal tips and maybe 8 to 10cm across the top of an open flower.