Crocus biflorus melantherus

[Janis Ruksans]

Dear friends, Many thanks for nice welcome words.
Now few more Crocus pictures. I went to Peloponnese mostly for Crocus biflorus melantherus. I have in my collection several acquisitions collected by my friends but I wanted to see it in nature, the variability of populations. Unfortunately I found it only at one location but very large population. Although generally peoples are interested in plants with nicely striped back of petals, I looked for those with stippled back and with buff (yellowish) colouring on petals back. It was interesting that spots with greatest density of crocuses was only close to roadsides. Density decreased seriously increasing distance from roadside. I suppose that it is result of activities of "horned botanists".
The most searched plants with stippled back of petals were quite rare, not more than 1%. Those with yellowish toned (buff) back of petals were even more rare. Sometimes I met plants with yellow anthers. Then came the question - how to separate such stippled yellow anthered forms from white forms of subsp. punctatus if you don't know origin of your plants? I added here few pictures of those crocuses from my greenhose, too.
In addition a pair of slides with some dangers which can meet you in Greece (and other countries, too) when you are looking for crocuses. The last one can be dangerous, too but not in this case as she is my step-daughter Liiga coming with me instead of my wife who was too busy ending her new book (she was under great pressure of Publishers terms, but yesterday finished and so now we will go for short rest without bulbs to warmer spot).
Yours Janis
P.S. I wrote this note yesterday but due my short experience in Forum it disappear somewhere. So now the text looks a little different.

01 Crocus melantherus variability
 02 Crocus melantherus yellowish
 03 loc-12 Crocus biflorus melantherus stippled form
 04 Crocus biflorus punctatus
 05 loc-12 Crocus biflorus melantherus yellow anthers
 06 loc-12 Crocus biflorus melantherus one of best
 07 loc-12 Crocus biflorus melantherus PELO-028 -29
 08 loc-12 Crocus biflorus melantherus PELO-028 -31
 09 Unpleasant surprise
 The best flower in Greece - Liiga

[Lesley Cox]

What a romantic you are Janis.
Is the picture above the best flower some kind of scorpion? We don't have them here so I've not seen one "in the flesh" thankfully. Very interesting though.
Lovely crocuses, of course.

[Janis Ruksans]

Yes, the insect on picture # 9 is scorpion. Last time when I saw them was some 8 years ago in Central Asia and almost forget that they are living in Greece and Turkey, too. Although I know that from Gerald Darrel's "My family and other animals". So must be careful picking up some stone because they hide below them from sunshine.
Janis

[Brian Ellis]

That Crocus biflorus melantherus with the yellowish back is most attractive.  Welcome and thanks for posting Janis, I look forward to furthering my education on these.

[art600]

Yes, the insect on picture # 9 is scorpion. So must be careful picking up some stone because they hide below them from sunshine.
Janis

I second what Janis says.  In a graveyard in Turkey at Kemer where we were photgraphing Cyclamen graecum, we picked up a stone and found a nasty surprise - a black scorpion.
On a trip to Lake Garda, I was clearing leaves to better photograph a Cyclamen purpurascens and was stung on my thumb - very painful, but I lived 

[Paul T]

Janis,

Beautiful pics.  A lot of variability in that one population, isn't there.  I am hoping that my melantherus has survived..... it went seriously backwards a couple of years ago and has struggled since.  I just love the black anthers.  Good luck with your yellow backed ones..... they do make a very different appearance to the flower, don't they.

Thanks again for the great pics.

[gote]

Hello Janis,
Nice to see you on the forum.
I have noticed in Catalonia between Barcelona and Andorra that Dactylorhiza and other orchids grew better on the roadbank. I assumed the reason be that rain on the tarmac was led to the bank so there was a combination of good drainage and sufficient water. Also the banks were cut latish in the year so competitors were held back.
Question? Can this have been a contributing factor or did they grow better also on the other side of the ditch?
I do agree that goats and sheep are terrible predators on the flora.
Göte

[Janis Ruksans]

On Crete I noted that first blooms of Crocuses were just on roadside ditches where water more accumulates, but I don't think that it was in case of Crocus biflorus melantherus, as groups was not just on roadside.
Janis

[Lesley Cox]

Yes, the insect on picture # 9 is scorpion. Last time when I saw them was some 8 years ago in Central Asia and almost forget that they are living in Greece and Turkey, too. Although I know that from Gerald Darrel's "My family and other animals". So must be careful picking up some stone because they hide below them from sunshine.
Janis

So while in the NH you have scorpions, here in the SH we have alpine wetas. who live under stones too, sheltering from sun or freezing.

[Armin]

Janis,
thanks for showing the amazing variants within C. biflorus melantherus.
I would be interested if the "yellowish" is fading or remaining when open for a longer time.

[HClase]

So while in the NH you have scorpions, here in the SH we have alpine wetas. Smiley who live under stones too, sheltering from sun or freezing.

But I don't think they bite do they Leslie?

[Lesley Cox]

I've not heard of anyone being bitten by a weta. Many people are happy to have them wander around on their arms or even faces! (I can see poor Maggi having a shudder to herself). The alpine weta is not the biggest, another species can grow to around 10cms long I think, so more like a small animal than an insect. The one I truly loathe is the sand weta which I have in the garden. It is quite small (a really big specimen is about 4cms long) but they can jump in any direction from a standing start, for as far as 180 cms. One landed on my face once and all I could do was scream. When I unearth one I wallop it with the back of the spade.

[Maggi Young]

Well, just when I had almost convinced my elf that giant Wetas were not too much of threat because they're so big you must at least see them coming, Lesley tells us about 4cms ones who can jump 180cms.....and land on your face......sorry Folks, that's any chance of me visiting NZ just dropped to zilch.  

At least I'm not missing any NZ crocus by staying put 

[fermi de Sousa]

Well, just when I had almost convinced my self that giant Wetas were not too much of threat because they're so big you must at least see them coming, Lesley tells us about 4cms ones who can jump 180cms.....and land on your face......sorry Folks, that's any chance of me visiting NZ just dropped to zilch.  

You'll be happy to know that we don't have jumping wetas in Australia....just red-back spiders, Huntsman spiders the size of small birds, little scorpions that hide under teatowels (my sister-in-law got bitten that way!), Funnel-web spiders, blue-ringed octopus, irukanji jellyfish....not all of these can kill you, however. For that you should look at the venomous snakes! 
Better stop of Maggi will be moving this to a new topic: "Stop freaking out the moderator!"
cheers
fermi


Edit by Maggi : I KNEW there had to be real logic behind the phrase "Home Sweet Home".... and now I understand it perfectly 

[Janis Ruksans]

Returning to Crocuses.
Yes, the yellow shade in biflorus melantherus buds fades with time but at very start it is almost of same shade as in scharojanii var. flavus. Still several crocuses are bloming in my greenhouse, between them several stocks of biflorus melantherus, but this yellowish shaded are long away (it was the first in bloom this season).
Janis R.