Identifying Crocus

[ian mcenery]

As a relative newcomer to crocus I find it difficult to identify many of these simply and accurately. Can anyone recommend a simple key for species as without such an aid progress is going to be slow. I am guessing this is maybe covered in Brian Mathew's book but I don't have a king's ransom. When I last checked ABE's cheapest was £100 and rising. Any ideas please?   

[David Shaw]

Tony Goode's site 'Crocuspages' is a simple on-line resourse but, excellent as it is, it is still just a basic picture guide and I would not be confident of nameing an unknown crocus from that alone.
 The easiest way seems to be to post a picture on the forum and the name is instantly forthcoming , and thanks to all those that answere such queries.

[tonyg]

David, having met Tony Goode, you'll know that he is a simple, picture based kind of guy
You're quite right that the collective examination of your plants by this audience is a great way to learn more about them.
I will one day produce a more detailed web reference for the genus ... unless someone else beats me to it!  In the meantime Ian, you can also look up the PBS wiki
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Crocus
which has the virtue of being a collective exercise while being better ordered for research than our long threads here.

[David Shaw]

Goode by name and good by nature.
Thanks for the PBS wiki link, Tony, its another building block towards I.D.ing the crocus.

[Gerry Webster]

Can anyone recommend a simple key for species

Ian, you might consider Brian Mathew's 'The Smaller Bulbs' which provides a very basic guide to identification, based on colour & flowering season supplemented by other easily observable characteristics where relevant. It's a useful book generally & would, I assume, cost a good deal less than 'The Crocus' (although it's not currently listed on ABE).

For European species only, there is a good key in 'Bulbs: The bulbous plants of Europe & their allies' by Christopher Grey-Wilson & Brian Mathew. The paintings by Marjorie Blamey are too impressionistic to be of use in identification. ABE lists a number of inexpensive copies.

[ian mcenery]

Thanks Tony, Gerry and David I do frequent Crocus pages and it is a great resource and have used as a reference when acquiring seeds and corms. It can also often a great help in eliminating suspects but of course there is no Key. Gerry I have also looked at Mathews "Dwarf Bulbs" does his "Smaller Bulbs" which I don't have have fuller descriptions etc?

Meanwhile can anyone identify this one please it has been growing inthe garden for some years I think and in my years of neglect the label was lost?

[Gerry Webster]

Gerry I have also looked at Mathews "Dwarf Bulbs" does his "Smaller Bulbs" which I don't have have fuller descriptions etc?

Ian, I don't own 'Dwarf Bulbs' & it is years since I have seen it. Relying on memory, I think 'Smaller Bulbs' is more detailed in every way.

[tonyg]

8 out of 10 lost label strays on this forum are C tommasinianus   This might well be another but the flower shape is not typical.  It might be a vernus x tommasinianus hybrid though.

I may be in touch with Brian M later this year as I have been asked to take over running the Crocus Group which has BM as its Patron.  I will see if I can get permission to reproduce his key to crocus on the web.  Don't get too excited though .... its a long and complicated affair!!

[ian mcenery]

Tony that sounds great. It would also be nice if some enterprising printer would reprint some of Brian's work. His Crocus and Hellebores both fetch incredible prices

The unidentified crocus I wondered could it be minimus as  I did once have it and although I gather some are feathered and this is not this plant is quite small?   

[Thomas Huber]

Ian, I didn't dare to give an answer - your plant can be everything between vernus and tommasinianus, but it surely isn't minimus!

[ian mcenery]

Thomas and Tony you both say that this looks like a tommie or vernus. It would be helpful to me to know what markers you see. As Maggi says there's always a clue

[tonyg]

Hmm - its certainly not a typical tommy.  The colour is OK, the hint of paler colour on the outers also.  The flowers are more like vernus in their shape - hence the suggestion of a garden hybrid.  How long have they been there?  I always stress in my talks that the flower is no always the best part of the plant to study when making an ID!  It is also better to have the real thing rather than a picture.   

[ian mcenery]

Thank you Tony I am beginning to see the light as the song goes 

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

I'm hoping this is the best place to post this.  I was going to start a separate thread, then figured this should be a good place to keep all these various IDs together.....

I was at a friend's place today and she has (and as soon as she has enough, I'll have!  ) this crocus in flower that she bought a couple of weeks ago as C. pulchellus.  From my pics of my own pulchellus I don't think that the style is correct for this species, plus it is much much darker than any pulchellus I have seen.  The colour is pretty much accurate on my computer as to the mauve colouration, and there is speckling on the outer petals.  It was a murky day today so I could not get a picture with the flower open unfortunately.  I violated it badly enough pulling petals this way and that to get the shots I did.  I've included a full pic that shows the outer petals markings a little, plus the wonderful striping inside, plus two separate closeups of the internals which I realise are so often the diagnostic feature.

It is flowering with her C. serotinus ssp salzmanii (to give you an idea of timing) but it was purchased up in the Blue Mountains a couple of hours north of here so timing could be out.  At the moment here in Canberra the timing is for things like pulchellus, speciosus, just past banaticus etc (not many have flowered here yet, but a lot of mine aren't going to flower this year.... which is why I built that new garden) to give you our time of the season, but as I said it was recently introduced from elsewhere so timing may vary a little I think.  I don't recognise it as one I have grown here, nor seen at friend's places.  Am I incorrect re the style and it IS pulchellus?

Thanks for any help you can give in IDing this plant.  I'd like to clarify the name of it for her, and for me in the future!! 

[Maggi Young]

Paul, that's a Crocus speciosus you have there.