Crocuses in Peloponnese - October-2011

[Hillview croconut]

Wonderful pictures and a great travel log - I feel I am there with you and your wife.

One thing - I think you are referring to Mycenae when you talk about the Lioness Gates, at the court of King Agamemnon. It get confusing because in Greek it would look like, Mykenai or Mykenae.

Amazing place, and site of one of the great archaeological finds in Greece and of one of the most dramatic, and I think erroneous statements, in Greek archaeological history. On finding a gold death mask from one of the circular tombs inside the gate I think Schliemann sent a message to the Greek Prime Minister, to the effect that "he had gazed upon the face of Agamennon". If I can remember from my school boy ancient civs - it was the face of his murderer and lover of his wife. It was all very bitter and twisted back then - but whats changed!

BTW I LOVE Stemnitsa and Dimitsana - Glad you did too.

Cheers and keep the story rolling - I'm there every step of the way.

Marcus

[Janis Ruksans]

 It is Friday – our last full day in Greece and we decide to go to Delphi in Attica on slopes of Parnassos ridge. I hope to find Crocus hadriaticus forms, Guna want to see the place from where future was predicted. The road was quite long and taught by previous experience with my navigator I more looked on map than navigator’s screen.
   I stopped several times on roadsides – at every spot looking as eventual Crocus cite, but no one flower was seen. Even in Sternbergias and Cyclamens we were quite short and they started only approximating just to ancient Delphi site. We were pleasantly surprised – just this day all Greece museums, historical cites are free of entry payment. This case we didn’t started with museum but went directly in ruins of antique city winding up by quite steep mountain slope. Although very rich in monuments this cite disappointed us by lack of information desks. Such are very few and many of them only in Greek and French. Both are not our languages. Near ancient Athena Treasury are large cone-shaped stone – and no explaining what it is. All hillsides are covered by Sternbergias. At very top is situated Stadium very well preserved but not visitable inside due rolling stone danger from hills overtopping Stadium. There bulb-world are accompanied by plenty of Colchicum cupanii. Few pictures I’m attaching here. It is at culmination of blooming but for crocuses we are at too low altitude.
   In superbly constructed Museum we finally found what is this stone cone – by this was marked centre of World (Earth), point from where Zeus started to make Universum. There are several sculptures preserved from replacing to Rome by earthquake, which buried them and so they reached time of archaeological excavations. Road to Delphi and visiting of cite and museum took a lot of our time, so we decided to drive further to look for hotel. Present Delphi is so crowded by cars, public that we pass it in direction to sea. And again – just on roadside small hotel and very good restaurant with grilled meat (on natural fire). Price – excellent and acceptable. Breakfast – excellent.
Janis

[Janis Ruksans]

It was too late for driving in mountains (Guna really hate mountain roads) and on Saturdays morning we are too short in time. It seem that no more Crocuses will be seen, but at short stop almost at place3 where I stopped only 2 days ago – again Crocus cancellatus. This case it is population with blue and white flowers. All earlier seen C. cancellatus populations were very uniform by base colour – it was white or bluish. Here both colours mixed together. But I pictured only blue ones - more variable and something different from earlier seen.
   Navigator again turns me wrongly and guides me instead of Airport to labyrinth of Athen suburbs streets. We loose more than hour and when I start to become nervous, finally we are on road to Airport and can return car 10 minutes before deadline.
   Weather was moderately warm, dry. I saw a lot of crocuses, Guna a lot f museums. We both together had fantastic holidays. During all trip I got only 3 receipts + museum tickets and now I’m not wondering about financial problems of Greek government.
Janis

[Armin]

Thank you for the marvelous images and notes.
I enjoyed the tour.

[Hillview croconut]

I second Armin's comments. Really enjoyed the pictures and your travel log Janis. Your photos are superb. Yikes about the prospect of being "lost" in the labyrinthine chaos of Athens with an uncooperative navigator!

Re crocus: If you go to the top of the first ridge on the road from Arachova (steep climbing road) to the point where you are looking down into the valley towards the "gingerbread" boxhouse village of, I think, Kalyvia Livadiou, to the right you will find great swathes of Crocus hadriaticus following the rocky outcrops along the slopes there. Crocus cancellatus seems to favour the grassier patches between the ridges, and Iris attica in both yellow and dusky-purple abound.

I think the stone at Delphi is the Omphalos, which marks the navel of the world, the point where two eagles released by Zeus met. Didn't Rhea wrap it in swaddling clothes to deceive Cronus, Zeus' father, who had a habit of eating his children?

Once again lovely to read your travel writing and may there be many more, and may you continue to post them.

Marcus

[Maggi Young]

I second Armin's comments. Really enjoyed the pictures and your travel log Janis. Your photos are superb. Yikes about the prospect of being "lost" in the labyrinthine chaos of Athens with an uncooperative navigator!

Once again lovely to read your travel writing and may there be many more, and may you continue to post them.

Marcus

I agree,  here's hoping for many more tales of  the  travels of Guna and  Janis  

[tonyg]

As always a fascinating, informative and entertaining account.  Thank you Janis!

[ian mcenery]

Janis thank you for sharing your tour with us. It is always good to see plants in the wild as well as soaking up some of the local culture. Thank you. 

[tonyg]

John Richards has posted an account of his recent travels in Greece looking at crocus.  Some interesting ideas on possible hybrids are raised.

http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/diaries/Northumberland/+November+/390/

John asked me to share his report with Crocus Group members, many of whom will check in here.  AGS members can add comments on the AGS site.  I have already done so, hopefully not too controversially!

[Maggi Young]

Thanks for the note, Tony.... those photos of happy Crocus were just the tonic needed on a cold wet evening. 

[John Richards]

Hi Janis,
I greatly enjoyed your account as I too am recently returned from looking at Crocus in the Peloponnese and you can read my account of the Alpine Garden Society website, 'Northumberland Diary', entry 195. At times I had considerable difficulty separating C. niveus from C. cancellatus and I should be interested to hear how you think your C. niveus from 'Tripoli, Velanidia differ from your C. cancellatus from Stemnitsa, as the stigma dissection seems very similar in both from the photos. I agree with you about the latter, but after a study of mixed populations in the Richia area, I think the key character is where the stigma is branched. In C. niveus it seems to branch only in the terminal 20% or so. Do you agree?

[Maggi Young]

John, it was good to read Tony's message last night with the link to your latest diary... a crocus lover's treat and no mistake.  Not to mention that fine clump of Narcissus... quite delightful..... so nice to be able to enjoy these trips by proxy!

[Janis Ruksans]

Many thanks for interesting report of John Richards. It confirms that my trip was something too early. I really saw in significant numbers only 4 species - mostly boryi, in second place I would put hadriaticus, then follows niveus and as last on my list would be cancellatus. From goulimyi and laevigatus I saw only 2-3 specimens and no one of melantherus.
The easiest way to seperate cancellatus is just by corm tunics. There are no other species in this region with so strong reticulation. Degree of stigma branching is very variable. I saw specimens of cancellatus (in Turkey) with only triphid stigma as in pallasii. Niveus and hadriaticus can be separated very easy by flower shape and bract and bracteole color which in niveus is greenish but in hadriaticus white. Position of style to anthers in some species varie from season to season. More constant are point of dividing.
Hybridization for me seems something doubtfull. Not always fibrous structure on hadriaticus corm tunics are strongly expressed. Unfortunately low resolution don't allow to check tunics on attached picture.
Janis

[Richard Green]

All these comments are interesting - and the photos are great.  The season in Greece has been late this year.  For various reasons I had to make an early visit to Kalamata and the Upper Mani between 17 October and 26 October and only saw C. boryi apart from a very few hadriaticus.  However, there were vast swathes of Cyclamen, and plenty of Sternbergia, Colchicum Narcissus and Galanthus about to compensate!

We arrived at Athens in a heavy rainstorm on 17 October, and the next day were freezing in snow on the top of Mt Menalo.  Our host in Kalamata said that this was the first autumn rain, and we saw no rain during our week.  She tells me (yesterday) that they have still had no rain at all.

I entirely agree with John Richards comments in his AGS Diary, and probably visitors in November will see more.  I shall try to post some of my pics when time allows.

[Janis Ruksans]

Hi Janis,
I greatly enjoyed your account as I too am recently returned from looking at Crocus in the Peloponnese and you can read my account of the Alpine Garden Society website, 'Northumberland Diary', entry 195. At times I had considerable difficulty separating C. niveus from C. cancellatus and I should be interested to hear how you think your C. niveus from 'Tripoli, Velanidia differ from your C. cancellatus from Stemnitsa, as the stigma dissection seems very similar in both from the photos. I agree with you about the latter, but after a study of mixed populations in the Richia area, I think the key character is where the stigma is branched. In C. niveus it seems to branch only in the terminal 20% or so. Do you agree?

Sorry, John,
Only now read your entry. Very hard working in last days. But I wrote after reading of your paper, that stigma  in niveus really branch higher, but I want repeat - that without any doubt you can separate both by corm tunics. Branching and position of stigma can varie from plant to plant and from season to season. My bluish niveus flowers always are more rounded (something fat) in shape, but bluish cancellatus is much slender in bud. During this trip I didn't saw very deep colored niveus, as I saw 3 years ago on pass before Velanidea. That was really shockingly deep blue.
Janis