Crocus minimus id verification
Jane McGary (Tue, 29 Jan 2013 10:33:50 PST)

Gastil's photos include one of the corms, which clearly shows that
her crocuses are C. minimus, because the parallel fibers are obvious.
The very similar C. corsicus has reticulate tunic fibers.

The photographed flowers are typical of the commercially propagated
variety of C. minimus, which is more strongly marked on the outer
(reverse) than some wild forms. It also has larger flowers and wider
tepals than some I have grown from wild-collected seed or seed from such stock.

Mathew writes that the two species, which both grow on Corsica,
apparently do not hybridize.

Gastil also asked about "a good book or website for Mediterranean
geophyte identification." I don't think there is a single publication
or website for all of the Mediterranean, or for all genera. For
Crocus I am still relying on Mathew 1982 with some photocopies of
later-described taxa laid in, but I have heard that a revision of
that book may appear within the near future. The AGS plans to publish
a well-illustrated field guide to geophytes of the eastern
Mediterranean (essentially the Middle East and Cyprus) by Oron Peri,
and there are several useful books for Turkey and for Greece, and a
grand volume on Crete. North Africa seems to be sadly neglected. For
Spain one usually turns to works on specific genera, such as John
Blanchard's on Narcissus, or works of Aaron Davis and John Grimshaw
on Galanthus. My own greatest interest is Fritillaria, for which a
monograph has not yet appeared, leaving me very frustrated every
spring as I try to verify my plants in flower. There exists a
monograph on COlchicum, but its publication has, I believe, been
delayed by lack of funding.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA

At 09:42 AM 1/29/2013, you wrote: