Crocus January 2018

[Janis Ruksans]

Crocus biflorus ssp pulchricolor from near Lake Abant Turkey

(Attachment Link)

 edit by m to rotate photo

Not easy to identify by picture, but not far from lake Abant is growing C. zetterlundii. Check the cataphylls - if they are yellowish, it almost certainly is zetterlundii. I separate my stocks very easy just by colour of cataphylls, especially if you can compare both species side by side. C. pulchricolor grows on Ulu Dag - quite distant from Abant.

[sokol]

In sublimis flower throat is distinctly pubescent, in atticus mostly glabrous or sparsely pubescent, but the best feature to separate both is corm tunics - coarsely reticulated with long neck in atticus and finely reticulated with short neck in sublimis

Thanks Janis, I will check the first feature today and the other during dormancy.

[sokol]

Nice pictures Stefan! Here also a bit sun yesterday, only in frame the first open flowers.
Crocus 'Rainbow Gold', a cross between C.veluchensis from Bulgaria and C.cvijicii from Greece

Thanks Dirk! All of the Crocus shown are located in the warmest place of the garden, SW-faced and protected to the north by the house and against the cold winds from the east.

[Lesley Cox]

Crocus gembosii! What a thriller! Is this a new species or maybe a natural hybrid or what? I've seen no mention of it ever. Did I just have my eyes closed? (I don't have Janis' most recent book of course.)

[sokol]

Two weeks ago everything was snow covered and probably it will be again from tomorrow on.

Crocus concinnus under snow

[Janis Ruksans]

Crocus gembosii! What a thriller! Is this a new species or maybe a natural hybrid or what? I've seen no mention of it ever. Did I just have my eyes closed? (I don't have Janis' most recent book of course.)

Crocus gembosii was published by me in 2016 in International Rock Gardener (76: p.28-31). See:   http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Apr281461879792IRG_76.pdf 
Earlier it was regarded as C. chrysanthus, but well separable from this. Even more it is quite unique because freely hybridizes with neighbouring blue flowering species which identity is not proofed - most likely it is  C. concinnus or C. mawii (in my book regarded as C. mawii - but differences between both are so subtle and overlapping that without DNA is almost impossible to separate both). I'm attaching for you, Leslie, some pictures of such hybrids used in my book, but there are many more in my collection.

[Lesley Cox]

Thank you so much Janis. Your answer is most helpful. I have to admit that nowadays my aging brain tends to skip over information quite lightly without properly absorbing it. In part this is because there is so MUCH new information about species which we don't have here in NZ and never will have so to some extent it seems irrelevant but that's a poor excuse and most likely I am just lazy.

Your pictures are really lovely and I am delighted to see the wonderful variation and colouring of the gemboshii hybrids. I may never be able to grow them but I can still enjoy what is shown here on the Forum and elsewhere and I am so grateful to the late Marcus Harvey for giving me so many of his special and rare crocuses. I probably have a better collection than anyone else in New Zealand and now I think it's important to distribute them before it is too late.

[Janis Ruksans]

Leslie,
I would be happy to send you some seeds at least, but due New Zealand import rules it is impossible and two my attempts to do this earlier, failed.

[sokol]

I had no problems to send seed to New Zealand till now (Crocus, Fritillaria Lilium).

[fermi de Sousa]

Leslie,
I would be happy to send you some seeds at least, but due New Zealand import rules it is impossible and two my attempts to do this earlier, failed.

At least sending to Australia would be permissible under its previous name of C. chrysanthus with C. gembosii as a synonym!
We really hope that Australian Biosecurity don't adopt NZ's bizarre attitude to newly re-classified botanical names,
cheers
fermi

[Tony Willis]

Not easy to identify by picture, but not far from lake Abant is growing C. zetterlundii. Check the cataphylls - if they are yellowish, it almost certainly is zetterlundii. I separate my stocks very easy just by colour of cataphylls, especially if you can compare both species side by side. C. pulchricolor grows on Ulu Dag - quite distant from Abant.

Janis,thank you i have looked at the cataphylls and they are colourless and almost transparent .

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Crocus time in full swing with me too, bit of catching up to do :


Crocus cyprius (from seed)

Crocus danforidiae (from seed)

Crocus flavus (from seed)

Crocus minimus


Ice blue Crocus baytopiorum

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Some more...

Crocus nivalis (I think)

Crocus pseudonubigena from Halkis Dag

Crocus sieberi sieberi from Drimiskos

Crocus suaveolens

Crocus tommasinianus albus

[krisderaeymaeker]

Crocus gembosii was published by me in 2016 in International Rock Gardener (76: p.28-31). See:   http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Apr281461879792IRG_76.pdf 
Earlier it was regarded as C. chrysanthus, but well separable from this. Even more it is quite unique because freely hybridizes with neighbouring blue flowering species which identity is not proofed - most likely it is  C. concinnus or C. mawii (in my book regarded as C. mawii - but differences between both are so subtle and overlapping that without DNA is almost impossible to separate both). I'm attaching for you, Leslie, some pictures of such hybrids used in my book, but there are many more in my collection.

Wow ....so nice Janis !!!!

[krisderaeymaeker]

Crocus time in full swing with me too, bit of catching up to do :
Crocus cyprius (from seed)
Crocus danforidiae (from seed)
Crocus flavus (from seed)
Crocus minimus
Ice blue Crocus baytopiorum

Very nice Luc !!!!