Then we came to our biggest patch of Crocus where there was much evidence of digging. Here we found Crocuses with a wider colour range: white and lilac flowered forms with both pale and dark throats. There were only 2 plants of the colours associated with Crocus matthewii in a group of perhaps 100 Crocus scattered over a wide area. Many more had been dug up and these are most likely to have been this colour form. Both of the ‘Crocus mathewii’ plants had a style which was about 2 cm long - perhaps slightly longer than most photographs of Crocus matthewii in cultivation and Tony’s pictures taken further west. It is good to know this Crocus occurs elsewhere as they are certainly under a lot of pressure on Baba Dağ.
Unlike most visitors to this mountain, who jump off the top attached to a para-glider, we chose to drive back down again at the end of the day!
Baba Dag crocus with dark throats: 1201, 1220
Holes dug with a trowel : 1225
Baba Dag crocus, other colours: 1189, 1195, 1197, 1227, 1230, 1215