Description
(laevigatus pumilus)
Once regarded as a subspecies of laevigatus, this has now been raised to species rank, based on its consistently smaller flowers which lack any scent. In addition it is limited to the Greek island of Crete.
Our stock of Crocus pumilus is propagated from a gorgeous form found by Antoine Hoog in Crete. This has a white background colour and varying degrees of thin, purple feathering on the exterior, the whole beautifully contrasted with a froth, frilly mass of expanded, orange style lobes set around with white anthers. In some flowers, there is a faint, cream overlay on the outside of the three outermost petals. With us this flowers in October on very short tubes this it holds its flowers close to the ground, spreading like little white stars in the autumn sunlight. After the first flowers are made, each little rosette can make more, then more meaning that it often lasts into November with sporadic flowers and our record here is December 4th for the very last flower. Not bad from a mid-September start.
Introduced to our lists (as Crocus laevigatus pumilus), in June 2009.
