Biology:Crocus sieberi
| Crocus sieberi | |
|---|---|
| |
| Crocus sieberi subsp. sublimis 'Tricolor' | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Iridaceae |
| Genus: | Crocus |
| Species: | C. sieberi
|
| Binomial name | |
| Crocus sieberi (L.) J.Gay
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| Synonyms | |
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Crocus sieberi, Sieber's crocus,[1][2] also referred to as the Cretan crocus or snow crocus (as is Crocus chrysanthus), is a plant of the genus Crocus in the family Iridaceae. A small, early blooming crocus, it easily naturalises, and is marked by a brilliant orange which is mostly confined to the stamens and style, fading through the bottom third of the tepal. It grows wild generally in the Balkans: Greece, especially in the island of Crete, Bulgaria, Albania and North Macedonia. There are four subtypes: sieberi (Crete), atticus (Attica area around Athens), nivalis and sublimis. Its cultivars are used as ornamental plants. Height: 3–4 inches (7.6–10.2 cm).
Subspecies
There are four subspecies of C. sieberi.[3]
- Crocus sieberi subsp. sieberi - Native to Crete: flowering in April. The white flowers with yellow throats stand up to 8 cm, the outer surfaces of the flowers are marked with varying degrees of purple. The branched styles are deep orange or yellow.[3]
- Crocus sieberi subsp. atticus - Native to the Attica region of Greece, it has lilac-blue or violet flowers with yellow throats. The corm tunics are more coarsely netted than the other subspecies.[3] It is found growing in stony areas in the mountains and in woods and scrub areas usually above 1000 meters, with flowering occurring from March to June.[4]
- Crocus sieberi subsp. sublimis - Native to the Peloponnese, southern Albania, North Macedonia, and also found in southern Bulgaria, has pale lilac flowers with pale yellow throats.[3]
- Crocus sieberi subsp. nivalis - Native to the Peloponnese with lilac-blue flowers that have yellow throats.[3]
Uses
Crocus sieberi is cultivated in gardens as an ornamental plant for its flowers. It has also been used as food; in Greece the corms are eaten raw - with the flavor said to resemble hazelnuts. In Turkey, the leaves are eaten as greens.[3]
Cultivars
Examples:
- 'Bowles's White'agm[5] (white with orange centre)
- 'Firefly' (lilac)
- 'Hubert Edelsten'agm[6] is a cross between Crocus sieberi subsp. sieberi and Crocus sieberi subsp. atticus.[7] (outside deep purple with broad white bands, inside pale lilac with orange center)
- 'Ronald Ginns' (pale pink to white petals with dark purple feathering on the outside and a yellow throat)
- 'Tricolor'agm[8] (gold centre, middle white band, outer rich lilac-blue edge)
- 'Violet Queen' (deep amethyst-violet flowers, paler within, with a rich, golden centre)
- Crocus sieberi subsp. sublimis forma tricolor burtt. - from Mt. Chelmos in the northern Peloponnese.[7] Plants are more variable than the cultivar 'Tricolor', with bright lilac flowers that have bright orange throats and a white band.[9]
The cultivars marked agm have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Crocus sieberi subsp. atticus 'Bowles White'
Crocus sieberi corms
References
- ↑ "Crocus sieberi". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CRSI6. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
- ↑ (xls) BSBI List 2007, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, https://bsbi.org/download/3542/, retrieved 2014-10-17
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Crocus sieberi J.Gay | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science" (in en). http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:436703-1.
- ↑ Phillips, Roger (1989). The Random House book of bulbs. Martyn Rix, Brian Mathew. New York: Random House. p. 19. ISBN 0-679-72756-6. OCLC 19922564. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/19922564.
- ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Crocus sieberi 'Bowles's White'". https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/71772/Crocus-sieberi-Bowles-s-White/Details. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Crocus sieberi 'Hubert Edelsten'". https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/98261/Crocus-sieberi-Hubert-Edelsten/Details. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Phillips 1989, p. 25.
- ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Crocus sieberi subsp. sublimis 'Tricolor'". https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/98142/Crocus-sieberi-subsp-sublimis-Tricolor/Details. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ↑ Ruksans, Janis (2011-01-12) (in en). Crocuses: A Complete Guide to the Genus. Timber Press. ISBN 978-1-60469-106-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=3pqFWjcZphMC&pg=PA172.
- Jānis Rukšāns. Buried treasures: finding and growing the world's choicest bulbs, Timber Press, 2007. ISBN:0-88192-818-6 ISBN:978-0-88192-818-1
External links
Wikidata ☰ Q123110 entry
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