Crocus minimus id verification

Kathy Purdy kopurdy@gmail.com
Mon, 02 Sep 2013 09:12:54 PDT
Hi, Jane
I am awaiting the first colchicum blooms of the season; I can see the pale
tips peeking out of the ground. This got me thinking about a remark you
made quite a while ago, quoted below. You said a monograph on colchicums
exists but has been delayed by lack of funding. Do you have any more
information on this? I am wondering if anything can be done in regards to
the funding problem, such as publishing via print on demand. Has the author
considered submitting the manuscript to Timber Press? I am giving a
presentation on colchicums to the Adirondack Chapter (really Finger Lakes,
based in Ithaca, NY) of the North American Rock Garden Society and I would
like to informed on the status of the monograph in case the question comes
up. Shoot, I would like to own the monograph!

At any rate, I'd appreciate any information you could share.

Kathy Purdy


On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net>wrote:

> Gastil's photos include one of the corms, which clearly shows that
> her crocuses are C. minimus, because the parallel fibers are obvious.
> The very similar C. corsicus has reticulate tunic fibers.
>
> The photographed flowers are typical of the commercially propagated
> variety of C. minimus, which is more strongly marked on the outer
> (reverse) than some wild forms. It also has larger flowers and wider
> tepals than some I have grown from wild-collected seed or seed from such
> stock.
>
> Mathew writes that the two species, which both grow on Corsica,
> apparently do not hybridize.
>
> Gastil also asked about "a good book or website for Mediterranean
> geophyte identification." I don't think there is a single publication
> or website for all of the Mediterranean, or for all genera. For
> Crocus I am still relying on Mathew 1982 with some photocopies of
> later-described taxa laid in, but I have heard that a revision of
> that book may appear within the near future. The AGS plans to publish
> a well-illustrated field guide to geophytes of the eastern
> Mediterranean (essentially the Middle East and Cyprus) by Oron Peri,
> and there are several useful books for Turkey and for Greece, and a
> grand volume on Crete. North Africa seems to be sadly neglected. For
> Spain one usually turns to works on specific genera, such as John
> Blanchard's on Narcissus, or works of Aaron Davis and John Grimshaw
> on Galanthus. My own greatest interest is Fritillaria, for which a
> monograph has not yet appeared, leaving me very frustrated every
> spring as I try to verify my plants in flower. *There exists a
> monograph on COlchicum, but its publication has, I believe, been
> delayed by lack of funding.*
>
> Jane McGary
> Portland, Oregon, USA
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Kathy Purdy
Cold Climate Gardening: providing the information you need
to succeed in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 and colder.
http://www.coldclimategardening.com/
Blogging Art and Practice: YourBlogHelper.com



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