Great Snowdrop trip in March 2011

[Oakwood]

This year we decided to visit our lovely snowdrops in Western Transcaucasia (Russia, 05-14.03.2011) and Bessarabia Highland (Ukraine, 18-25.03.2011).
The Transcaucasia trip stuff was Olga Bondareva (Moscow), Sergey Banketov (Piatigorsk), Svetlana Didenko and me (Kiev Central Botanic garden, Ukraine)
So, our route was from mountain forests of around Great Sochi, then Abkhazia, and then in Novorossiysk vicinity.
These first photos are from Great Sochi vicinities (Krasnodar dictrict, Russia, W. Transcaucasia).
Helleborus caucasicus
Cyclamen coum
Erythronium caucasicum
Scilla monanthos

[Oakwood]

Snowdrops of Great Sochi area

Galanthus woronowii - so called "woodland" and "rocky" ecological forms
Galanthus rizehensis
Galanthus rizehensis growing on rocks as epiphyte

[Oakwood]

My lovely and rebel ABKHAZIA

Scilla bifolia
Helleborus caucasicus pink forms, distributed only in this unique area
Erythronium caucasicum

[art600]

Dimitri

Thank you for taking us to places we can only dream about.

It is always good to see plants growing in their natural habitat.  Particulalrly fond of the Erythronium.

[Maggi Young]

Dimitri

Thank you for taking us to places we can only dream about.

It is always good to see plants growing in their natural habitat.  Particularly fond of the Erythronium.

 I agree, Art..... and the pink H. caucasicus is also very lovely.

[Brian Ellis]

Thank you for taking us to places

I agree, Art..... and the pink H. caucasicus is also very lovely.

Me too, so nice to see the snowdrops with the other plants in their natural habitat.  The erythronium are lovely too, thanks Dimitri

[Melvyn Jope]

Wonderful plants, superb photos, how we envy you being able to go there, thank you Dimitri.

[vivienr]

Absolutely magical. Wonderful to see all these flowers in their real homes. And those moss covered trees....
Just wish I had more money and better Russian to go myself. But definitely something to dream about
(smiley with eyes closed).

[Oakwood]

Snowdrops of Abkhazia

Galanthus woronowii
Galanthus krasnovii and its habitat

[Oakwood]

Vicinity of Novorossiysk area, Russia, NW Transcaucasia

Crocus reticulatus
Mushrooms))
Muscari neglectum

[Oakwood]

Novorossiysk area snowdrops

Galanthus alpinus
Galanthus plicatus and its habitat

[Oakwood]

The second part of our dropy-trip took place in Ukraine: Kiev and Cherkassy area and in Bessarabia. The stuff was changed a bit - Ukrainian-British joint trip members: Dr. Viktor Melnik, Dr. Aaron Davis, Dr. Anna Trias-Bliasi, Dr. Svetlana Didenko and me.

Galanthus nivalis in forests of Kiev area - some forms
Our dream-team))

[Oakwood]

Galanthus plicatus in Kholodny Yjar, Chrerkassy region. These plicatus plants have wide bright-green leaves without glaucous deposit!

G. plicatus in the wild. Inner petal mark variants.
Our British friends were frozen - somewhere in the remote rural Ukraine))
Zhelezniak old oak of 1100 years in Kholodny Yjar

[Oakwood]

Sunny Bessarabia 
We were in Odessa area of Ukraine in Bessarabia Highland on the border with Moldova.

Pulsatilla bohemica
Gymnospermium odessanum
Crocus reticulatus differs from its NW Transcaucasian race by white flowers, not blue
Bulbocodium versicolor and its polyploid form as huge as Colchicum speciosum! Leaf width - 3 cm, petal width - 1 cm.

[Oakwood]

The unique Bessarabian snowdrop - Galanthus graecus in Stellaria media carpet that grows in placornic forests (forest that grows in steppe area). In all populations we investigated the plants with 3 or even 4 leaves and 2 stalks aren't very rare.