The March 2004 issue of "The Alpine Garden" (bulletin of the AGS) contains
the following news item (I have edited Robert Rolfe's text a little):

"Tecophilaea cyanocrocus has been relocated in Chile, over 50 years since
it was pronbounced extinct there. M. Teresa Eyzaguirre and Rosario Garcia
de la Huerta, in 'Gayana Bot.' 59(2):73-77 (2002 [probably published in
Santiago]) describe how, while conducting a routine botanical mapping
survey in the spring of 2001, they encountered a large but very localised
population of the Chilean Blue Crocus at just over 2000 metres, within 40
kilometres of Santiago, inhabiting an area no more than 20 x 50 m. Several
illustrations accompany the article, one of them showing the tecophilaea

spectacular abundance on a level, stony site, which it is reported to

with a sparse covering of various spiny and hummock-forming shrubs, along
with Calandrinia affinis and Barneoudia major. The density of this stand

estimated at 30-50 corms per square metre, in clumps of 5-20; the colony

said to be somewhat aberrant, in that generally the blooms have an
extensive white 'eye', approaching but not analogous with the stocks long
cultivated under the varietal name leichtlinii. In just three examples,

flowers were pure white. The exact location is not revealed."

This note tells us something about T. cyanocrocus's habitat preference.
Calandrinia affinis and Barneoudia major (the former similar to a

Lewisia, and the latter to a small alpine Ranunculus) are "snowmelt"

of the subalpine zone, growing quickly in spring and flowering while their
soil is still very damp, then going dormant. They are often accompanied by
an Olsynium (I don't know the species) very similar in appearance and
habitat preference to North American O. douglasii. These very well drained
sites dry out in the summer, but the stony soil probably preserves some
trace of moisture well into the dry season, and stays fairly cool below

immediate surface layer.

Let us hope that now that botanists have found this site, somebody puts up
a serious fence around it to keep out the cattle and goats!

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA

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