Description
A species which has been much confused in literature by virtue of its name being similar to the very different (and only distantly related ) C. tauri, from Southern Turkey. The two are not closely related or synonyms. They are only similar in name C. tauricus being named for Tauria (Crimea) whilst C. tauri is named for the Taurus Mountains of S. Turkey.
True Crocus tauricus hails from high-altitude, mountain grassland in what is now the portion of Crimea invaded and occupied by Russia.
The corms have annulate tunics but these are unusual in having very noticeable teeth on the edges of the rings (you will see them instantly when you look). The foliage stands very stiffly upright and this really stands out in a collection of species. The leaf colour is a silvery-green and the underside of the leaves is channelled with ribs in the channels, though this is less easy to see on casual examination. There can be anything from 2-6 leaves.
The flowers range from violet to purple through purple-flecked white and some have striped patterns. Inside there is a yellow throat, yellow anthers and an orange-yellow style. Flowering is in Spring, in the wild this would be as melting snows receded. This may help illustrate the hardiness of the plants which is perfectly happy outside in the garden in a suitable spot, but does equally well, under alpine glass.
Our stock is horticultural and is raised here from a mix of hand-pollinated seedlings and vegetative offsets, so that it is not clonal. Earlier than this it came to us from a German Botanical Garden. The data supplied with the original plants say “Ukraine, Krim Peninsular, Simferopol Area, 200m, C. Naumann 11562“. Based on floral and leaf characters, they clearly belong originally to the Tschatir-Dag population which is to the south of Simferopol.
