Crocus March 2012

[I.S.]

This one is really true C. olivieri subsp. istanbulensis collected at it's locus classicus (not by me, of course). By flower not possible to separate from type subspecies, but it has different leaf morfology and corm tunics. It is first blooming in my collection. Corm from Ibrahim still didn't start flowering. I think this is first picture of this extreme rariety in our forum. As I hear, in nature there are not more than 100 plants left.
Janis

 Janis istanbulensis is a late flowering crocus. On my collection they flower after than standart olivieri. Now all my olivieri are in full bloom but istanbulensis is just showed the nose.
 

[Janis Ruksans]

This one is really true C. olivieri subsp. istanbulensis collected at it's locus classicus (not by me, of course). By flower not possible to separate from type subspecies, but it has different leaf morphology and corm tunics. It is first blooming in my collection. Corm from Ibrahim still didn't start flowering. I think this is first picture of this extreme rarity in our forum. As I hear, in nature there are not more than 100 plants left.
Janis

 Janis istanbulensis is a late flowering crocus. On my collection they flower after than standart olivieri. Now all my olivieri are in full bloom but istanbulensis is just showed the nose.
 

This year with me isn't very typical. Crocuses had some frost damage and comes up very unevenly - in some pots one corm is blooming, others only showing noses. In same time colours of many are brighter and deeper toned than usually - another feature of strong frost influence. Very few olivieri blooms but still not started mass blooming of this species. C. olivieri istanbulensis from you (Ibrahim) showed noses out, single corm from another source (it was specially collected for me) just started flowering. You can judge about sequence of blooming only in second year of growing when all corms passed same treatment in your collection during summer when organogenesis of new plant (inclusive flower) happen. All my istanbulensis I got last year, so it is for them first season with me, whilst type subspecies I'm growing several years and I have several acquisitions of it.
This is reply for Ron, too. Pity, but in my book under capture subsp. istanbulensis is picture of type subspecies. I got those corms from supplier in Europe to whom I trusted and only later got information that they originated from PC. This summer my source double-checked them and... they turned type subsp. I'm afraid that in collections under this name at present are grown mostly (if not even only) type subspecies. All my present plants (in total I have 5 corms - from Ibrahim, from another Turkish grower and from wild) where checked by corm tunics and their identity were confirmed.
Janis

[ronm]

Thank you for clearing that up Janis. 

[Janis Ruksans]

This one is really true C. olivieri subsp. istanbulensis collected at it's locus classicus (not by me, of course). By flower not possible to separate from type subspecies, but it has different leaf morfology and corm tunics. It is first blooming in my collection. Corm from Ibrahim still didn't start flowering. I think this is first picture of this extreme rariety in our forum. As I hear, in nature there are not more than 100 plants left.
Janis

 Janis istanbulensis is a late flowering crocus. On my collection they flower after than standart olivieri. Now all my olivieri are in full bloom but istanbulensis is just showed the nose.
 

You are right, Ibrahim. All my earlier aquisitions of olivieri are in full bloom. Just checked them. I simply didn't give great attention to them as all are pictured, checked names etc. Without flowers are newcomers of last autumn - my aquisitions on Chios and Samos and from other growers - imported bulbs allways bloom later. But true istanbulensis I got only last autumn, too... and it flowers.
Janis

[Janis Ruksans]

In this entry C. chrysanthus with black in flower.
The first is quite well known SUNSPOT selected and offered by Bob Potterton. I selfpollinated it and this spring first two seedlings bloomed.
They both on next two pictures. That with black stigma today was backcrossed with Sunspot.
Next is specimen with black stigma which I found on Gembos Yaila, it grew through asfalt on ropadside and it took me almost hour to get it free
On following two are again chrysanthus from Gembos Yaila - one with black anthers another with black connective of anthers. Pollens from last three were used for cross between black stigma and black anther plants from Gembos. Hope they must be fertile as coming from same population. Additionally I used pollens of all on Sunset, but as I don't know nor from where Sunset comes nor chromosome number of all those - I'm doubtfull about success. A year before I got no one seed from such combinations (Sunspot x wild).
Janis

[Janis Ruksans]

Central Asian trio in full bloom today.
C. michelsonii
C. korolkowii
C. alatavicus
Janis

[ronm]

Spectacular Janis,  8
Thanks for posting the 'Sunspot' seedling pictures. Hope you can post more if anymore of them flower, please.

[Sinchets]

We have been looking at diversity in Crocus olivieri within Bulgaria. This species has a very fragmented distribution within Bulgaria. We have not yet visited the populations in the west of the country, but the central populations we have seen did not exhibit much diversity other than colour of floral tube.
One of the populations we know on the Black Sea coast has more diversity in markings on the outer petals. The most common forms are still those with pale flower tubes, but here some are speckled and purple tubes are not unusual. Some of the purple tubed flowers also have markings, which is something we have not seen in the population in Central Bulgaria.

[Janis Ruksans]

We have been looking at diversity in Crocus olivieri within Bulgaria. This species has a very fragmented distribution within Bulgaria. We have not yet visited the populations in the west of the country, but the central populations we have seen did not exhibit much diversity other than colour of floral tube.
One of the populations we know on the Black Sea coast has more diversity in markings on the outer petals. The most common forms are still those with pale flower tubes, but here some are speckled and purple tubes are not unusual. Some of the purple tubed flowers also have markings, which is something we have not seen in the population in Central Bulgaria.

In Turkey there are populations where you can meet all types of flower tube - almost white, greenish or purplish speckled or striped up to uniformly deep purple tube.
Janis

[Sinchets]

To me it is interesting that the populations we have seen of Crocus olivieri and Crocus chrysanthus are more variable the closer they are to European Turkey. We have not seen this yet with Crocus biflorus, which seems less variable in this particular border area.

[Janis Ruksans]

Crocuses which we are naming chrysanthus by my opinion really are group of species and quite variable. I saw extremely variable population not far from Tashkent, which is quite far from Turkey in Europe - there almost each plant was different. I put puts with all chrysanthus acquisitions together and then it is possible to see that some are very large, some small and smallest are some from Greece and W Turkey. There are very uniform populations, too - on yaila near Kan gec (not far from Elmali) - there all plants (and they are millions there) are very uniform. I found only 2-3 albinos there, which this spring for the first time bloomed with me, and turned only slightly lighter than others but it can be caused by cold influence. I noted that after strong frosts flowers are more colored than after mild winters.
Janis

[Janis Ruksans]

Three my selecttionns from Crocus abantensis
Alba
Azkaban's Escapee
Dark violet
+
Crocus leichtlinii
Janis

[Otto Fauser]

Janis , very choice selections of your C .abantensis , in particular 'Askaban's Escapee.

[Sinchets]

Crocuses which we are naming chrysanthus by my opinion really are group of species and quite variable. I saw extremely variable population not far from Tashkent, which is quite far from Turkey in Europe - there almost each plant was different. I put puts with all chrysanthus acquisitions together and then it is possible to see that some are very large, some small and smallest are some from Greece and W Turkey. There are very uniform populations, too - on yaila near Kan gec (not far from Elmali) - there all plants (and they are millions there) are very uniform.
Janis

My own thoughts and the reason why I posted pictures of variability in Crocus chrysanthus and olivieri here in Bulgaria are that when a species does have a wide distribution there will always be populations which are isolated and where the gene pool may express more variation than in a larger population. But can we look at populations from 2 ends of a distribution range and say they represent different species if there are intermediates throughout the rest of the range? Is it not better to view the forms as part of a species continuum and acknowledge that some of its populations will be more variable than others depending on events in the history of these populations.

[ronm]

I agree, Simon. And this can only be assessed by extensive fieldwork.