Fall Crocus

Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Sun, 17 Oct 2010 17:55:23 PDT
Roger wrote:” Crocus kotschyanus comes in three or four forms.´and then goes
on to describe garden forms of Crocus kotschyanus kotschyanus. 

 

Quibble alert!

 

I’m sure Roger himself is well aware of the distinction I’m about to make. 

 

Crocus kotschyanus does occur in four forms, four subspecies (in the
taxonomic arrangements most of us have used) . The combination Crocus
kotschyanus without modification refers equally to any of these four
subspecies. The plants Roger is describing are presumably all forms of the
subspecies kotschyanus. 

 

The potential confusion between “Crocus kotschyanus comes in four forms” in
the sense that horticulturists are likely to mean it and the meaning the
same words have in a botanical sense is a reflection of widespread usage
among gardeners, most of whom seem to think that the combination Crocus
kotschyanus without modification means the typical, familiar form of this
species. As a botanical name it does not; as a term of everyday garden and
catalog speak it probably does.  

 

Jim McKenney

jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com

Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone
7

My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/

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