Crocuses in Eastern Turkey, autumn 2011

[Kees Jan]

Here is a picture C. kotschyanus ssp. hakkariensis (yet another population) and its two most interesting companions. The first is what must be Crocus cancellatus ssp. damascenus, despite the fact that the style overtops the anthers, and the second is a Middle Eastern tree frog , Hyla savignyi.

[Kees Jan]

I think I finally figured out among which oak species the endemic crocuses C. karduchorum and C. kotschyanus grow. C. karduchorum seems to grow in Quercus petraea ssp. pinnatiloba scrub. Crocus kotschyanus ssp. hakkariensis is not restricted to light oak woodland and oak scrub, but where we found it the dominant oak was Q. libani. Both are deciduous oak species (not surprisingly given the altitude at which we found C. karduchorum, although C. kotschyanus ssp. hakkariensis seems to have a much wider altitudinal range).