Crocus sieberi

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).

Crocus sieberi
Crocus sieberi subsp. sublimis 'Tricolor'
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Genus: Crocus
Species:
C. sieberi
Binomial name
Crocus sieberi
Synonyms
  • Crocus sibiricus Barr
  • Crocus sibthorpianus Herb.
  • Crocus sieberianus Herb.

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 subsp. atticus 'Bowles White'
  • Crocus sieberi corms
    Crocus sieberi corms

References
  1. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Crocus sieberi". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  2. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  3. "Crocus sieberi J.Gay | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  4. 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.
  5. "RHS Plant Selector - Crocus sieberi 'Bowles's White'". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  6. "RHS Plant Selector - Crocus sieberi 'Hubert Edelsten'". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  7. Phillips 1989, p. 25.
  8. "RHS Plant Selector - Crocus sieberi subsp. sublimis 'Tricolor'". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  9. Ruksans, Janis (2011-01-12). Crocuses: A Complete Guide to the Genus. Timber Press. ISBN 978-1-60469-106-1.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crocus sieberi.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.