The Rock Garden, no.119, pp.1-5, 2007 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
Crocuses are dwarf cormous perennials, ranging from Portugal and Morocco to western China. Turkey has many endemic and rare crocus taxa such as Crocus wattiorum, C. kerndorffiorum, C. ancyrensis, C. antalyensis and many others. Most of Turkey’s native taxa were identified and classified by Brian Mathew, Erich Pasche and Helmut Kerndorff but it is still not surprising to find undescribed species there. In 2004 Erich Pasche reported more than 30 species and 25 subspecies of crocus in Turkey. Considering this, Turkey is most probably the native land of the genus Crocus: every year, two or three new taxa are described from this country. Among the others, Crocus graveolens of the Flavi group has received less attention. It grows in south and south-eastern Turkey and in northwestern Syria, Lebanon and northern Israel. Information about C. graveolens is quite limited. This article introduces this lesser known crocus and describes some of its morphological traits. Since it has attractively coloured and shaped flowers we think that it may have distinctive horticultural value in low altitude coastal zones. |