Crocus biflorus Mill. Çakır Çiğdem (in Turkish)

Crocus biflorus Mill. - Çakır Çiğdem (in Turkish)

Scientific Description:

Corm tunic membranous or coriaceous with entire or toothed rings at base. Leaves (3−)4−9, synanthous, 0.5−3.5 mm broad. Prophyll absent. Bracteole present, subequal to or much narrower than bract. Throat of perianth pale to deep yellow, glabrous or finely papillose; segments 1.7−3.5 × 0.5−1.3 cm, subacute, obtuse or rounded, white, lilac or blue, exterior sometimes prominently striped, veined, speckled or stained with purple, dark blue or grey. Filaments 3−7 mm, white or yellow, glabrous or finely papillose; anthers (0.8−)l−1.4 cm, yellow or blackish, sometimes yellow with blackish basal lobes, sometimes yellow with a greyish or blackish connective. Style dividing into 3 yellow to reddish-orange, slender or expanded branches.

 

Flowering time: February−June(−July).

Habitat: Open rocky slopes, scrub, alpine turf, sparse coniferous woods, 200−3000 m.

 

subsp. pulchicolor (Herb.) B.Mathew

 

Leaves 3−4(−5), not more than 1 mm broad; flowers usually deep blue or violet; bracts drying brownish or reddish (Northwest Anatolia).

 

Reference:
Mathew B (1984). Crocus biflorus Miller, In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 8: 421.

Public Description:

Crocus biflorus subsp. pulchicolor, known as “çakır çiğdemi” in Turkish, is an endemic species to Türkiye and native to northwestern Türkiye. It is a cormous perennial plant with blue and violet flowers. It has thin and strip-like leaves between 3−9 on the base. It blooms between February and June and is found in open rocky slopes, scrub, alpine turf, and sparse coniferous woods.

 

References:

Anonymous (2016). http://www.tubives.com/index.php?sayfa=1&tax_id=9390/, Accessed date: 14.02.2016.

Yüzbaşıoğlu S İ (2012). Crocus L. In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 530–534.