SPECIES DESCRIPTION
CROCUS TOURNEFORTII
Family and Genus:- See- IRIDACEAE
Common Names:- Tournefort’s Crocus.
Homotypic Synonyms:- Crocus boryi subsp. tournefortii, Crocus
tournefortianus.
Meaning:- Crocus (Gr) Thread, (reference to the stigmas of Crocus sativus).
Tournefortii (L) For Joseph de Tournefort (1656-1708), renaissance
plant systematist.
General description:- Low cormous perennial.
Corm:-
1) Small, Corm-tunic papery, splitting into parallel, vertical fibres.
Leaves:-
1) 3-8, 1-3mm wide, present at flowering time.
Flowers:-
1) Lilac, rarely with darker veins; throat yellow or sometimes whitish, glabrous or
pubescent. said to remain open at night.
2) Bract, and bracteole subequal, membranous, white, sometimes green at the
apex, well-exserted from the cataphylls.
3) Perianth-tube, 3-10 cm, white, often yellowish or purplish at the apex;
a) segments 1·5-3·5 x 0·4-1·3 cm, obovate or elliptical, obtuse.
4) Filaments, densely pubescent.
5) Anthers, creamy-white.
6) Style, yellow to deep orange, equalling or exceeding the stamens, dissected into
many slender branches.
Fruit:-
1) Capsule, 1-1·2 cm, ellipsoid.
Key features:-
1) Corm-tunic, papery, laciniate at the base.
2) Filaments, densely pubescent.
2) Flowers, lilac-blue, remaining open at night.
Habitat:- Scrub, dry grassy and stony habitats, rock crevices. 0-850(-1450 m. in
dolines).
Distribution:- Endemic to Crete, many Aegean Is., especially the Cyclades,
Rhodes. On Crete mainly confined to the east and central north coast. Usually not
far from the coast.
Flowering time:- Sept-Dec.
Photos by:- Yannis Zacharakis
