''Crocus ancyrensis'', sometimes known as the Ankara crocus, (Turkish: ''Ankara çiğdemi'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family ''

Iridaceae Iridaceae () is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the Iris (plant), irises. It has a nearly global distribution, with 69 accepted genera with a total of about 2500 species. It includes a number of economically importan ...

''. It is endemic to North and Central

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It was named ''ancyrensis'' as it was first discovered in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Description

''Crocus ancyrensis'' is a herbaceous perennial geophyte growing from a corm. Plants grow 4 to 6 inches tall. The corms are oval shaped with fibrous reticulated tunics. The small flowers are 1 inch long and 0.5 ince wide are orange-yellow with orange-red stigmas. The flowers have bright yellow throats and typically each corm produce two or three flowers. Each corm has three or four leaves which appear during flowering.

Habitat

The plant commonly flowers in the months of February to April, and is found growing at 1000–1600 meters in elevation. It commonly grows near rocks, bushes and pines. Its corm, rich in sugar and starch, is edible; it has been a common staple in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Cultivation

''Crocus ancyrensis'' 'Golden Bunch' is a

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

that was selected for its greater number of flowers than the typical species, with up to ten flowers per corm. It is one of the earliest yellows to bloom. It is winter hardy in USDA zones 3 through 8.

Gallery

Crocus ancyrensis001.jpg Crocus ancyrensis003.jpg Crocus ancyrensis 2.JPG

References

ancyrensis Plants described in 1881 Taxa named by William Herbert (botanist) {{Iridaceae-stub