Crocus cancellatus mazziaricus
| Flowering Time |
Autumn |
|
Distribution |
Greece; W & SW Turkey |
|
Native Climate |
Mediterranean |
|
Wild Habitat |
Rocky places, thin woods and scrub, over limestone |
|
Distinctive Features |
Large flowers, white to blue violet. Netted corm tunic |
|
Closest Relatives |
Crocus cancellatus cancellatus; |
|
Cultivation Requirements |
Winter protection away from native region, warm dry summer rest |
|
Availability |
Occasionally in specialist seed lists |
The ability to discern both bract and bracteole can be helpful in distinguishing this subspecies from subspecies cancellatus and subspecies damascenus in cultivation.
A very variable subspecies of Crocus cancellatus as the pictures below illustrate.
Bract and Bracteole
The bract and bracteole are two papery structures which are wrapped around the developing flower. As the floral tube lengthens the bract and sometimes the bracteole become visible above ground. In this illustration of Crocus cancellatus mazziaricus, both are visible as the two pointed shapes around the floral tube at the very top of the image. Below these is the cataphyll (sheathing leaf) which protects the entire shoot as it pushes its way up through the soil.
In subspecies cancellatus and damascenus the bracteole is not usually visible (ie it is much shorter than the bract). This distinction can be used to assist in identification.
An example of the distinctively netted (reticulate) corm tunic common to all subspecies of Crocus cancellatus.