Crocus is a genus in the Iridaceae family that is widespread; it is found in Europe, North Africa and in Asia. The standard reference on the genus was Brian Mathew, The Crocus written in 1982, but at least half a dozen taxa, including new species, have been described since its publication. In 2010 Jānis Rukšāns published the book Crocuses: A Complete Guide to the Genus that includes descriptions of species and cultivation information. This PBS wiki page describes Spring Blooming crocus species a-b.
Crocus index - Fall Blooming crocus a-h - Fall Blooming crocus i-o - Fall Blooming crocus p-z - Spring Blooming crocus c-e - Spring Blooming crocus f-l - Spring Blooming crocus m-s - Spring Blooming crocus t-z
Crocus abantensis T.Baytop & B.Mathew grows in alpine meadows in northwestern Turkey. Photos by John Lonsdale.
Crocus adanensis T.Baytop & B.Mathew grows near Adana in southern Turkey, where it blooms in early spring. Photos by John Lonsdale.
Crocus aerius Herb. (synonym Crocus biliottii Maw) is sometimes confused with the blue form of C. biflorus, according to Brian Mathew. Tony Goode has a good discussion of the situation here. This bulb grows in Turkey in alpine meadows near Uludag. Photos by John Lonsdale.
Crocus alatavicus Regel & Semen. grows in mountain meadows in the former Soviet central Asian countries and eastern China, making it the most easterly Crocus, according to Brian Mathew. Photos by John Lonsdale.
Crocus aleppicus Baker, synonym Crocus gaillardotii (Boiss. & Blanche) Maw, is from Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Reportedly requires protection in the UK. Bowles reported that it was abundant around Damascus, and was sold there as food. It blooms in mid-winter. First two photos by John Lonsdale. Third photo a form with strong purple feathering by Gideon Pisanty.
Crocus ancyrensis (Herb.) Maw is from Turkey where it grows on dry hillsides and blooms in spring. The name means 'of Ankara', the capital of Turkey. Photos by John Lonsdale.
Crocus ancyrensis 'Golden Bunch' is a selection. First photograph by Tony Goode, remainder David Pilling. The second photo (10 mm grid) shows the 'string vest' that grows around the corm. Photo three is of emerging flowers, notice that more than one bunch of leaves (or shoots) grows from each corm, and more than one flower grows from each bunch.
Crocus angustifolius Weston 'Bronze Form' is a strongly marked form that is a commercially available clone. Crocus angustifolius is normally more golden yellow in color and is sometimes grown under the synonym Crocus susianus Ker Gawl. The species is from the Crimea where it grows on hillsides, in scrub and juniper woods and blooms in spring. The first photo by Jane McGary. The next two photos by Mary Sue Ittner of this form obtained from Jane McGary show how they start out very yellow and fade to a creamy color.
Crocus antalyensioides Rukšāns is native to north-western Turkey around Bursa. Most of the plants cultivated as Crocus antalyensis are actually this more northern species. It is both easier in culture and larger than the true antalyensis, and is the earliest spring Crocus in Martin Bohnet's garden. While the base color is pale blue with a yellow throat, seedling populations also featured white and yellow specimen. It is not totally clear if the yellow forms may be fertile hybrids with Crocus flavus.
Crocus antalyensis B.Mathew is native to south-western Turkey around Antalya, where it grows in evergreen oak scrub. It is lilac-blue with a yellow throat and flowers in early spring. Plants in trade are mostly really C. antalyensioides. First photo by Arnold Trachtenberg, second and third photos by John Lonsdale.
Crocus baytopiorum B.Mathew is a species from southwestern Turkey where it experiences a cold snowy winter and a cool summer. It flowers near melting snow. The flowers are an unusual shade of pale ice-blue, a very difficult color to photograph. The corm tunic is netted-fibrous. First photo by Tony Goode, second and third photos by John Lonsdale.
Crocus index - Fall Blooming crocus a-h - Fall Blooming crocus i-o - Fall Blooming crocus p-z - Spring Blooming crocus c-e - Spring Blooming crocus f-l - Spring Blooming crocus m-s - Spring Blooming crocus t-z