New crocuses described
Jane McGary (Tue, 25 Jun 2013 15:18:45 PDT)

In an article in The Alpine Gardener (journal of the Alpine Garden
Society, UK), Latvian plant explorer and nursery grower Janis Ruksans
(pardon, please, my e-mail does not support diacritics) publishes
formal descriptions of seven new taxa of Crocus from the Balkans and
Turkey. Four of these are new subspecies of the widespread and easily
grown Crocus speciosus: subsp. sakariensis, bolensis, hellenicus, and
elegans. He separates them mostly on the basis of slight differences
in the corm tunics and the relative lengths of stigma and anther
filaments. One new taxon is a subspecies of Crocus laevigatus, subsp.
pumilus, described from the Omalos Plateau of Crete and distinguished
on the basis of smaller, odorless flowers (I believe I have this
form, grown from Archibalds' seed collection). The two newly
distinguished species are Crocus vaclavii, a member of the Crocus
biflorus continuum, and Crocus macedonicus, distinguished from C.
pallasii on the basis of a variation in the corm tunic.

In an endnote, the author solicits private correspondence regarding
the descriptions. It would be interesting to see some discussion in
this list from members who are knowledgeable about Crocus.

I'm hoping to rebuild my Crocus collection now that I have a reliably
rodent-proof place to grow them, where those that I managed to
preserve have responded beautifully to the new raised bed conditions.
I expect some of Ruksans's new collections will appear soon in his
nursery catalog, but I am hesitant to spend something like 25 euro on
a crocus corm; I'd much rather grow a group of clones from seed.

The same issue (vol. 81 no. 2, June 2013) offers much more of
interest to bulb enthusiasts. The first species illustrated is
Lachenalia rubida. A presentation on the AGS display at Chelsea
features Arisaema sikokianum and Rhodohypoxis cultivars, among many
other choice subjects. Robert Rolfe's entertaining piece on plant
exploring in Turkey has Colchicum baytopiorum (another good garden
plant) and an exquisite pan of Iris reticulata 'White Caucasus'. Vic
Aspland finds "The perfect home for unusual winter bulbs" in a raised
plunge bed, something that won't be news to many of us. Then there's
a plant portrait of Narcissus cyclamineus, a lovely species that is
hard to maintain in the Mediterranean-climate garden -- but I'll keep
trying with the one bulb I rescued just ahead of selling my former
home. A feature article on the garden of Robin and Sue White has
photos of many geophytes, including lilies, Narcissus, Anemone,
Cypripedium, Corydalis, Dactylorrhiza, Fritillaria meleagris, hybrid
Erythronium, Crocus, and Colchicum. The show report, always a good
space filler for this journal (I wish I'd had that resource when I
edited the NARGS journal), shows the usual jam-packed pans of bulbs
and a non-packed pan of the difficult Crocus pelistericus. Finally is
a portfolio of photos by Yiannis Christofides of autumn flowers and
scenes in Antalya, mostly bulbous species. The AGS is a prime source
of interesting seeds and sponsors some of the best plant tours in
collaboration with Greentours.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA