Crocus cartwrightianus explained

Crocus cartwrightianus is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae, native to mainland Greece, Euboea, Crete, Skyros and some islands of the Cyclades.[1] It is a cormous perennial growing to 5cm (02inches). The flowers, in shades of lilac or white with purple veins and prominent red stigmas, appear with the leaves in autumn and winter.[2]

Description

The flower style divides while still within the throat of the flower, well below the bases of the anthers. The branches of the stigma are taller than the anthers and about the same length as the petals. The throat of the flower is bearded. The leaves and flowers are produced at the same.[3]

The Latin specific epithet cartwrightianus refers to the 19th century British Consul to Constantinople, John Cartwright.[4]

C. cartwrightianus is the presumed wild progenitor of the domesticated triploid Crocus sativus – the saffron crocus[5] [6] [7] with a population in Attica, Greece suggested as the closest known modern population to the saffron ancestors.[8] It had previously been believed that saffron originated in Iran,[9] Greece[10] or Mesopotamia.

Habitat

This species is commonly found growing on limestone soil areas of the Attica Peninsula of Greece.

Cultivation

There is evidence that this plant was cultivated in ancient Crete at least as early as the Middle Minoan Period, as exhibited by a mural, the "Saffron Gatherer", illustrating the gathering of crocuses.[11] [12] In the 19th century, wild Crocus cartwrightianus was harvested on Andros in the islands of the Cyclades, for medicinal purposes and the stigmas for making a pigment called Zafran.[13]

This plant,[14] has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Notes and References

  1. Jacobsen . Niels . Ørgaard . Marian . Crocus cartwrightianus on the Attica Peninsula . ISHS Acta Horticulturae . 2004 . 650 . 6 . 65–69 . 10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.650.6 . 6 April 2024 . Cartwright.
  2. Book: RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. 2008. Dorling Kindersley. United Kingdom. 978-1405332965. 1136.
  3. Feinbrun. Naomi. 1957. The Genus Crocus in Israel and Neighbouring Countries. Kew Bulletin. 12. 2. 269–285. 10.2307/4114421. 4114421 . 1957KewBu..12..269F . 0075-5974.
  4. Book: Harrison, Lorraine. RHS Latin for gardeners. 2012. Mitchell Beazley. United Kingdom. 9781845337315. 224.
  5. http://www.actahort.org/members/showpdf?booknrarnr=650_1 M. Grilli Caiola - Saffron reproductive biology
  6. Nemati. Zahra. Blattner. Frank R.. Kerndorff. Helmut. Erol. Osman. Harpke. Dörte. 2018-10-01. Phylogeny of the saffron-crocus species group, Crocus series Crocus (Iridaceae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 127. 891–897. 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.06.036. 29936028. 49409790 . 1055-7903.
  7. Schmidt. Thomas. Heitkam. Tony. Liedtke. Susan. Schubert. Veit. Menzel. Gerhard. Adding color to a century-old enigma: multi-color chromosome identification unravels the autotriploid nature of saffron (Crocus sativus) as a hybrid of wild Crocus cartwrightianus cytotypes. New Phytologist. 2019. en. 222. 4. 1965–1980. 10.1111/nph.15715. 30690735. 1469-8137. free.
  8. Nemati . Zahra . Harpke . Dörte . Gemicioglu . Almila . Kerndorff . Helmut . Blattner . Frank R. . Saffron (Crocus sativus) is an autotriploid that evolved in Attica (Greece) from wild Crocus cartwrightianus . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 2019 . 136 . 14–20 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2019.03.022 . 30946897 . 6 April 2024 . Atticsaff.
  9. Book: R. . Ghorbani . A. . Koocheki . Sustainable Cultivation of Saffron in Iran . https://books.google.com/books?id=cdksDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA170 . Sustainable Agriculture Reviews . Lichtfouse . Eric . 2017 . Springer . 978-3-319-58679-3 . 10.1007/978-3-319-58679-3 . 170–171. 28214061 .
  10. F. . Gresta . G. M. . Lombardo . L. . Siracusa . G. . Ruberto . 2008 . Saffron, an alternative crop for sustainable agricultural systems. A review . Agronomy for Sustainable Development . 28 . 1 . 95–112 . 10.1051/agro:2007030. 44054590 .
  11. http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes C.Michael Hogan, Knossos Fieldnotes, the Modern Antiquarian (2007)
  12. Kazemi-Shahandashti . Seyyedeh-Sanam . Mann . Ludwig . El-nagish . Abdullah . Harpke . Dörte . Nemati . Zahra . Usadel . Björn . Heitkam . Tony . Ancient Artworks and Crocus Genetics Both Support Saffron's Origin in Early Greece . Frontiers in Plant Science . 2022 . 13 . 10.3389/fpls.2022.834416 . free . 35283878 . Ancient Saffron. 8913524 .
  13. Book: Maw . George . A Monograph of the Genus Crocus . 1886 . Dulau and Co. . Soho Square, London . 87, 164, 207, 250 . 6 April 2024 . Maw Saffron.
  14. Web site: RHS Plant Selector - Crocus cartwrightianus. 30 July 2020.

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