Description
Crocus armeniensis is a gorgeous, autumn-flowering, species which is a newly described species within the C. speciosus alliance. It is characterised by having perhaps the largest flowers of this group, at least as large as the old, selected Dutch speciosus and greatly divided orange styles which are longer than the anthers. (In some of our pictures the bend in the style, towards the camera, makes it look short – it is not.)
The flowers are large, violet with petals which are beautifully marked with an intricate, darker violet veining on the inner surface of both sets of petals and also on the external surface of the outer set as well. Rarely the outer surface of the inner three petals is found to be plain but even then, the feathering and veining of the inner surface shows through.
The throat is (rarely) cream to (most frequently) rich yellow and tones well with the yellowish anthers. The orange style is intricately divided into thin curved, thread-like branches which are longer than the primrose-yellow anthers.
One of the best of the group, this is a meadowland species growing in open grasslands and fields in Armenia. In cultivation it is easily grown either in the garden or under alpine glass, in fertile, well drained but moisture retentive soils.
Our old stock was raised from a form selected by Zhirair Basmajyan which was sometimes named as ‘Goris’ after the location that he first found it. The present stock is raised from unattributed cultivated seed. The two stocks are indistinguishable and may well have the same origins, “both” make well-marked flowers of good colour and increase well.
