Crocus cvijicii
| Flowering Time |
Spring |
|
Distribution |
Serbia; Albania; Macedonia; N Greece |
|
Native Climate |
Subalpine. Cold snowy winter, short warm summer |
|
Wild Habitat |
Mountain meadows over limestone |
|
Distinctive Features |
Yellow flowers just as leaves emerge. Petals often quite narrow near the base giving the throat of the flower an unusually 'open' appearance. Rather flattened corm has thin fibres, somewhat netted |
|
Closest Relatives |
|
|
Cultivation Requirements |
Cool winter, plenty moisture when plant is in active growth in spring. Cool dryer summer but not completely dried out |
|
Availability |
Sometimes available from specialist seed/bulb suppliers |
Quite distinctive and attractive early spring flowering species. From a mountain habitat so less amenable to cultivation in lowland gardens but not difficult where the correct conditions can be provided. The name may be pronounced schveeyeech-e-e (or as E A Bowles suggested you might imitate a sneeze or play it on the violin!)
The most obvious difference between this and the closely related Crocus veluchensis is flower colour. The distribution of this species is almost entirely within that of Crocus veluchensis but there are no records of them occurring in mixed populations.
