Crocus March 2018

[Janis Ruksans]

Few more:
Crocus exiguus - regarded as identical with C. heuffelianus. Actually all this group is very complicated and identification is not very easy.
Crocus gargaricus is yellow flowering. This year it formed incredibly large flowers, almost of same size as Dutch so named Crocus vernus cultivars.
Crocus geghartii is very similar to C. adamii but according researches in Gattersleben DNA confirms that both are different species
Crocus georgei blooms for the first time with me. By flower similar to C. sublimis but has leaves with distinct ribs in lateral channels.
Crocus harveyi was published by me - it grows wild on Ikaria Island, Greece

[Janis Ruksans]

Again three entries of plants in which yellow colour dominates - they are Crocus gembosii from Gembos Yaila not far from Akseki in Turkey. Visiting S Turkey in early spring I always tried to visit this place and always found there crocuses of exceptional beauty (only once yaila was under 1 m deep snow at my visit). There are some blue and white ones between yellow. Are they hybrids or belongs to C. concinnus/mawii complex, I don't know, but all are of exceptional beauty.
18-02 is seedling from cross between plants with black stigma and plants with black anthers. This cross is done by me. Others are natural hybrids or true species.

[Janis Ruksans]

Some more from Gembos Yaila.
Only JATU-073 comes from Aldurbe Yaila - located on opposit direction from Akseki than Gembos. Could be another species.

[Janis Ruksans]

This is last entry with plants from Gembos. Between them famous cv. 'Sunspot'. On last picture you can see incredibly long tooth on corm from some natural hybrid (?). Its flowers looked something strange and I dug one out to check - aren't some pest damage, but plant turned perfect and then I noted those basal rings.

[Janis Ruksans]

You certainly tired from so much entries and really I tired, too. So as last pictures of today are two pictures of the very late hybrid found in his garden by Lithuanian bulb grower Eugenius (Augis) Dambrauskas. What is its parents? No idea. I suppose that one of parents is some of Crocus ancyrensis sensu lato group. Tunics are reticulated, blooms as one of the last, it is sterile (no pollens formed), excellent increaser by splitting and perfectly brightens greenhouse in this Easter day.
Happy Easter to every one, regardless are you believer or not (as I).

[ashley]

Happy Easter to you too Jānis.

And thank you for your many posts here, and the work you put into them.  I'm sure that they are appreciated by many people as well as building a great resource for reference.

[Ian Y]

I certainly appreciate all your posts Janis, allowing all of us to enjoy your Crocus flowers.

[Janis Ruksans]

Thanks for nice words!
Now some more prepared pictures.
The first is something mysterious Crocus roopiae, following HKEP & Harpke I name it "roopiae aff." due some distance from Kars province, where C. roopiae is growing. In general it respond to description from Flora USSR but its throat is nude, although in Flora USSR described as hairy. But all crocuses from neighbourhood has only glabrous throats. Grossheim in his Flora Caucasica not mention hairy throat, too, so I suppose that it is mistake in Flora USSR. Another sample of C. roopiae collected just in Kars province and got by me from Archibald has nicely striped flowers. Is it variation? Or may be different species? I can't decide at present.
Last two pictures are of "biflorus" crocus from Refahiye - still unidentified.

[Janis Ruksans]

In this entry some forms of Crocus heuffelianus and seedlings of 'Carpathian Wonder'.

[Janis Ruksans]

Although it is already 2nd of April, but all those pictures were madre in March, so I didn't start new topic.
At first one more C. heuffelianus seedling from Taavi Tuulik, Estonia
then again unidentified "biflorus" crocus from Turkey collected W of Van Lake.
Crocus istanbulensis - one of the rarest crocuses in the world.
Then follow Crocus ilvensis and as last not so long ago published Crocus jablanicensis

[Janis Ruksans]

The first is Crocus kartaldagensis described by HKEP from Gaziantep Province, Kartal Dağı. The stock was identified only this spring and it completely match original description
This spring Crocus kosaninii looks wonderful and I changed my opinion about it to much higher point
The cv. 'White Splash' I got last autumn from Gothenburg as belonging to Crocus x leonidii group. Contrary to other cultivars of this cross which are basically yellow, this one is purest white.
Last two pictures are of crocus easy identifiable by invariably white stigma, although flower colour is quite variable. It is Crocus leucostylosus.

[Janis Ruksans]

Two more pictures of crocuses with white stigma - at this timer they represents Crocus minutus but from 2 forms not mentioned in original description of HKEP and well reproducing itself from seeds without any splitting of colour - blue-white striped and yellow.
Then 2 pictures of C. mediotauricus. The first comes from Dirk and I suppose its is offspring from type collection. The second is my own collection - only 1 corm from the region from where mediotauricus comes, collected out of flowers. Its identity - difficult to tell, looks something different and as it is usually with species published by HKEP - type localities are mentioned so approximately, that not easy to identify.
The last is picture of crocus identified by me and Ibrahim as Crocus mysius. There are some minor discrepancies, but this is the closest one and could be caused by intraspecific variations.

[Janis Ruksans]

This entry is dedicated to various gatherings of crocuses identified as Crocus munzurense. Although in original description HKEP mention that it is growing in Erzincan province, all those were originally collected to South from this province - in Tunceli province (inclusive sample collected and identified by HKEP) and S from it. Those from most southern gatherings is almost identical, only stigmatic branches of those are very sparsely papillose. They all are forming pea-size cormlets at base of new corm (in cultivation), not observed in other related species. All crocus samples found by me in Erzincan Province (N of Munzur Daglari) looks completely different.

[Janis Ruksans]

Outside again is heavy snowing. All garden became white although at weekend is promised even + 14 C.
In this entry Crocus neapolitanus, the name which must be applied for those earlier regarded as vernus with large flowers, because now the name "vernus" must be used for former small blooming albiflorus.
Then two unusual Crocus olivieri - Albina, found by Ibrahim as single plant and well replacing itself from seeds; and old cv. 'Chocolate Soldier' got by me from "down under" - from famous Australian nurserymen Marcus Harvey after whom I named Crocus harveyi. Chocolate Soldier was received as C. balansae cultivar, but here I never observed more than 6 branches in its stigma, so replaced it as cv. of C. olivieri.
Next is C. paschei named after my good friend Erich Pasche by his travel partner H. Kerndorff.
And last is crocus from Iran named after another my friend - Reinhard Fritsch - famous explorer of Alliums and author of monographs about Iranian Allium and published on internet - about Central Asian Alliums.

[Janis Ruksans]

Crocus roseoviolaceus belongs to most spectacular spring crocuses. It was discovered by HKEP and something later by me and few Turkish botanists during common trip. Turkish botanists proposed to name it after me and got even page proofs to be published in September, when in June came out paper from HKEP where same crocus was named as roseoviolaceus, so Turkish paper was recalled.
But I didn't remained without mine crocus. Last year another new species of exceptional beauty was named after me by Dimitry Zubov as Crocus ruksansii
Last three pictures in this entry is of crocus from another E Aegean Island - from Samos - I named it by my very long-time friend, botanist Arnis Seisums, who now works together with Tony Hall on monograph about Juno irises - Crocus seisumsiana. The third picture shows albino of C. seisumsiana.