''Crocus sieberi'', Sieber's crocus, also referred to as the Cretan crocus or snow crocus (as is ''

Crocus chrysanthus ''Crocus chrysanthus'', the snow crocus or golden crocus, is a species of flowering plant of the ''Crocus'' genus in the family Iridaceae. Native to the Balkans and Turkey, it bears vivid orange-yellow bowl-shaped flowers. It has smaller corms an ...

''), is a

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

of the genus ''

Crocus ''Crocus'' (; plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family) comprising about 100 species of perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stems remain under ...

'' in the family

Iridaceae Iridaceae is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the irises, meaning rainbow, referring to its many colours. There are 66 accepted genera with a total of c. 2244 species worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016). It include ...

. A small, early blooming crocus, it easily naturalises, and is marked by a brilliant orange which is mostly confined to the stamens and style, fading through the bottom third of the

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

. It grows wild generally in the Balkans:

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, especially in the island of Crete,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. There are four subtypes: ''sieberi'' (

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

), ''atticus'' (

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean S ...

area around

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

), ''nivalis'' and ''sublimis''. Its cultivars are used as

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

s. Height: .

Subspecies

There are four subspecies of ''C. sieberi''. * ''Crocus sieberi'' subsp. ''sieberi'' - Native to Crete: flowering in April. The white flowers with yellow throats stand up to 8 cm, the outer surfaces of the flowers are marked with varying degrees of purple. The branched styles are deep orange or yellow. * ''Crocus sieberi'' subsp. ''atticus '' - Native to the Attica region of Greece, it has lilac-blue or violet flowers with yellow throats. The corm tunics are more coarsely netted than the other subspecies. It is found growing in stony areas in the mountains and in woods and scrub areas usually above 1000 meters, with flowering occurring from March to June. * ''Crocus sieberi'' subsp. ''sublimis'' - Native to the Peloponnese, southern Albania, North Macedonia, and also found in southern Bulgaria, has pale lilac flowers with pale yellow throats. * ''Crocus sieberi'' subsp. ''nivalis'' - Native to the Peloponnese with lilac-blue flowers that have yellow throats.

Uses

''Crocus sieberi ''is cultivated in gardens as an ornamental plant for its flowers. It has also been used as food; in

the corms are eaten raw - with the flavor said to resemble hazelnuts. In

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, the leaves are eaten as greens.

Cultivars

Examples: *'Bowles's White' (white with orange centre) *'Firefly' (lilac) *'Hubert Edelsten' is a cross between Crocus ''sieberi'' subsp. ''sieberi'' and ''Crocus sieberi'' subsp. ''atticus''. (outside deep purple with broad white bands, inside pale lilac with orange center) *'Ronald Ginns' (pale pink to white petals with dark purple feathering on the outside and a yellow throat) *'Tricolor' (gold centre, middle white band, outer rich lilac-blue edge) *'Violet Queen' (deep amethyst-violet flowers, paler within, with a rich, golden centre) *''Crocus sieberi'' subsp. ''sublimis'' forma ''tricolor'' burtt. - from Mt. Chelmos in the northern Peloponnese. Plants are more variable than the cultivar 'Tricolor', with bright lilac flowers that have bright orange throats and a white band. The cultivars marked have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

's Award of Garden Merit. File: Crocus sieberi Bowles White1.jpg, ''Crocus sieberi'' subsp. ''atticus'' 'Bowles White' File: Crocus_sieberi - tricolor.jpg, ''Crocus sieberi'' corms

References

Jānis Rukšāns. Buried treasures: finding and growing the world's choicest bulbs, Timber Press, 2007.

External links

IPNI Listing

Kew Plant List
sieberi Garden plants Flora of Bulgaria Flora of Greece Plants described in 1831 {{Iridaceae-stub