Crocus

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For other uses, see Crocus (disambiguation).
Crocus

Crocus longiflorus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta
Superdivision: Spermatophyta
Division: Magnoliophyta, Angiosperms
Class: Monocotyledones, Liliopsida
Subclass: Liliidae
Order: Asparagales, Liliales
Family: Iridaceae
Subfamily: Crocoideae
Genus: Crocus
L.
Species

See text.
Wild crocus growing in the foothills of the Bernese Alps in Switzerland.

Crocus (plural: crocuses, croci) is a genus of perennial flowering plants, native to a large area from coastal and subalpine areas of central and southern Europe (including the islands of the Aegean), North Africa and the Middle East, across Central Asia to western China.

The genus Crocus is placed botanically in the iris family (Iridaceae). The plants grow from corms and are mainly hardy perennials, and are found in a wide range of habitats, including woodland, scrub and meadows.

There are about eighty species of crocus (of which approximately 30 are cultivated). Their cup-shaped, solitary, salverform flowers taper off into a narrow tube. Their color varies enormously, although lilac, mauve, yellow and white are predominant. The grass-like, ensiform leaf[1] shows generally a white central stripe along the leaf axis. The leaf margin is entire. Crocuses typically have three stamens. The spice saffron is obtained from the stigmas of Crocus sativus, an autumn/fall-blooming species.

The name of the genus is derived from the Greek krokos (κρόκος), which—like the Hebrew karkōm, Aramaic kurkama, Persian and Arabic kurkum—means saffron or saffron yellow.

Contents

[edit] Other uses of the name crocus

Though some true crocus bloom with the fall (autumn) rains, after summer's heat and drought, the name autumn crocus is often used as a common name for Colchicum, which is in the lily family (Liliaceae), and which has six stamens; it is also known as meadow saffron, though unlike true saffron the plant is toxic. The so-called prairie crocus (formerly Anemone patens, now Pulsatilla patens or P. ludoviciana) belongs to the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae).

Crocus 'E.A. Bowles',
a Chrysanthus hybrid

Crocus cultivars

C. sieberi corms, showing the netlike papery outer covering

[edit] True autumn crocuses

Most true autumn crocus flower in September to November in the northern hemisphere. Some flower before their leaves appear. Autumn/fall flowering species include: Crocus banaticus (syn. C. iridiflorus), C.cancellatus, C. goulimyi, C. hadriaticus, C. kotschyanus (syn. C. zonatus), C. laevigatus, C. ligusticus (syn. C. medius ), C. niveus, C. nudiflorus, C. ochroleucus, C. pulchellus, C. sativus (saffron crocus), C. serotinus, C. speciosus, C. tournefortii. Crocus laevigatus has a long flowering-period which starts in late autumn or early winter and may continue into February.

[edit] In cultivation

Crocus appearing through the snow

Cultivated varieties mainly represent five species, C. vernus, C. chrysanthus, C. flavus, C. sieberi and C. tommasinianus. As one of the first flowers to bloom in spring, crocuses are popular with gardeners. Their flowering time varies from the early winter C. tommasinianus to the later large hybridized and selected Giant "Dutch crocuses" (C. vernus). Crocus flowers and leaves are protected from frost by a waxy cuticle; in areas where snow and frost occasionally occur in the early spring it is not uncommon to see early-flowering crocus blooming through a light late snowfall (right).

Most crocus species and hybrids should be planted in a sunny position, in gritty, well-drained soil, although a few prefer shadier sites in moist soil. Some are suitable for naturalising in grass. The corms should be planted about 3–4 cm deep; in heavy soils a quantity of sharp grit should be dug in to improve drainage.

Some crocuses, especially C. tommasinianus and its selected forms and hybrids (such as 'Whitewell Purple' and 'Ruby Giant') seed prolifically and are ideal for naturalising. They can, however, become weeds in rock gardens, where they will often appear in the middle of choice, mat-forming alpine plants and can be difficult to remove.

[edit] History

Cultivation and harvesting of crocus was first documented in the Mediterranean, notably on the island of Crete. Frescos are extant at the Knossos site on Crete[2] as well as from a comparably aged site on Santorini.

The first crocus seen in the Netherlands, where Crocus species are not native, were from corms brought back from Constantinople by the Holy Roman Emperor's ambassador to the Sublime Porte, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, in the 1560s. A few corms were forwarded to Carolus Clusius at the botanical garden in Leiden. By 1620, the approximate date of Ambrosius Bosschaert's painting (illustration, left), new garden varieties had been developed, such as the cream-colored crocus feathered with bronze at the base of the bouquet, similar to varieties still in the market. Bosschaert, working from a preparatory drawing to paint his composed piece, which spans the whole of Spring, exaggerated the crocus so that it passes for a tulip, but its narrow, grasslike leaves give it away.

Saffron gatherers appear in Minoan frescos on the island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea. See History of saffron

Composed Bouquet of Spring Flowers, by Ambrosius Bosschaert, c. 1620 (Louvre Museum)

[edit] Species

Cloth of gold (Crocus angustifolius)
from Curtis's Botanical Magazine 1803
Crocus ochroleucus
Crocus ligusticus
Crocus sativus
Crocus mathewii
Crocus vernus subsp. vernus
Crocus vernus subsp. albiflorus
Crocus tommasinianus subsp. tommasinianus

The taxonomic characteristics are based mainly on the presence or absence of a prophyll (a basal spathe) and the aspect of the style and the corm tunic.

1 Subgenus Crocus

A. Section Crocus
Series Kotschyani
Series Longiflori
Series Scardici
Series Verni
Series Versicolores
Series Crocus
B. Section Nudiscapus
Series Aleppici
Series Biflori
Series Carpetani
Series Flavi
Series Intertexti
Series Laevigatae
Series Orientales
Series Reticulati
Series Speciosi

2. Subgenus Crociris

[edit] Metaphorical use

The financial community sometimes refers to companies or economic sectors that rise early after an economic downturn as "Crocuses" in reference to the flower's ability to thrive in the late winter or early spring.[3]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Ensiform: Having sharp edges and tapering to a slender point, like a sword blade.
  2. ^ C. Michael Hogan, Knossos fieldnotes, Modern Antiquarian (2007)
  3. ^ Example of Metaphorical Use

[edit] Additional references

[edit] External links

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