Crocus biflorus explained

Crocus biflorus, the silvery crocus or scotch crocus,^[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. It is native to south-eastern Europe and south-western Asia, including Italy, the Balkans, Ukraine, Turkey, Caucasus, Iraq, and Iran.^[2] It is a cormous perennial growing to 6cm (02inches) tall and wide. It is a highly variable species, with flowers in shades of pale mauve or white, often with darker stripes on the outer tepals. The flowers appear early in spring.^[3]

Description

Crocus biflorus is a herbaceous perennial geophyte growing from a corm. The corm is globe-shaped with flattened ends, covered with a smooth tunic that has two or three rings. The white-lilac flowers with yellow throats have purple-blue striped outer surfaces.^[1] Each blooming corm typical produces two flowers, thus the species epithet "biflorus".^[4]

Classification

According to the taxonomic classification proposed by Brian Mathew in 1982, C. biflorus falls within the series Biflori of the section Nudiscapus within the genus Crocus. However, modern DNA analysis is challenging whether the series Biflori can be separated from the Reticulati and Speciosi series.^[5] At least 21 subspecies of C. biflorus have been named; furthermore numerous cultivars have been raised for garden use.

Subspecies^[2]

• Crocus biflorus subsp. adamii (J.Gay) K.Richt. - Balkans, Ukraine, Crimea, Caucasus, Iran
• Crocus biflorus subsp. albocoronatus Kerndorff - Taurus Mountains in Turkey
• Crocus biflorus subsp. artvinensis (J.Philippow) B.Mathew - Caucasus, northeastern Turkey
• Crocus biflorus subsp. atrospermus Kernd. & Pasche - Turkey
• Crocus biflorus subsp. biflorus - Italy including Sicily, Turkey, Rodhos (Ρόδος, Rhodes) Island in Greece
• Crocus biflorus subsp. caelestis Kernd. & Pasche - Turkey
• Crocus biflorus subsp. caricus Kernd. & Pasche - Turkey
• Crocus biflorus subsp. crewei (Hook.f.) B.Mathew - Turkey, Greek islands
• Crocus biflorus subsp. fibroannulatus Kernd. & Pasche - Artvin Province in Turkey
• Crocus biflorus subsp. ionopharynx Kernd. & Pasche - Turkey
• Crocus biflorus subsp. isauricus (Siehe ex Bowles) B.Mathew - Turkey
• Crocus biflorus subsp. leucostylosus Kernd. & Pasche - Denizli Province in Turkey
• Crocus biflorus subsp. nubigena (Herb.) B.Mathew - Turkey, Greek islands. Found growing in evergreen oak scrub and pine forests from 100 to 1000 meters; blooming in November to March.^[6]
• Crocus biflorus subsp. pseudonubigena B.Mathew - Turkey
• Crocus biflorus subsp. pulchricolor (Herb.) B.Mathew - Turkey
• Crocus biflorus subsp. punctatus B.Mathew - Turkey
• Crocus biflorus subsp. stridii (Papan. & Zacharof) B.Mathew - northeastern Greece
• Crocus biflorus subsp. tauri (Maw) B.Mathew - Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, Iraq. Found growing in damp woods, on open hillside with dry soils, and in alpine turf up to 3000 meters in elevation. Flowering from January to May.
• Crocus biflorus subsp. weldenii (Hoppe & Fürnr.) K.Richt - Italy, Albania, Yugoslavia. Found growing around 1000 meters in rocky woods, commonly on limestone.
• Crocus biflorus subsp. yataganensis Kernd. & Pasche - Turkey

Award

The cultivar 'Blue Pearl' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.^[7]

Notes and References

1. Book: Jelitto, Leo. Hardy herbaceous perennials. 1990. Timber Press. Wilhelm Schacht, Michael E. Epp, John Philip Baumgardt, Alfred Fessler. 0-88192-159-9. Portland, Or.. 168. 20012412 .
2. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=327161 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
3. Book: RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. 2008. Dorling Kindersley. United Kingdom. 978-1405332965. 1136.
4. Book: Armitage, Allan M.. Herbaceous Perennial Plants: A Treatise on their Identification, Culture, and Garden Attributes. 2008-05-01. Cool Springs Press. 978-1-61058-380-0. en. 3rd .
5. Brian Mathew, Gitte Petersen & Ole Seberg, A reassessment of Crocus based on molecular analysis, The Plantsman (N.S.) Vol 8, Part 1, pp50–57, March 2009
6. Book: Phillips. Roger. The Random House Book of Bulbs. Rix. Martyn. 1989. Random House. 978-0-679-72756-9. 21.
7. Web site: Crocus biflorus. Plant Selector. Royal Horticultural Society. 22 July 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221053/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=585. 3 March 2016. dead.