Abstracts, XIV OPTIMA Meeting, Palermo (Italy) , 9-15

XIV OPTIMA Meeting, Palermo (Italy), 9-15 September 2013
The synopsis of the ornamental genus Crocus (Iridaceae) in Turkey
CAN L. 1,2 , EROL O. 1
1 Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Istanbul University, 34116, Istanbul, Turkey. E-mail: cigdems@istanbul.edu.tr
2 Biology Department, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Namık Kemal University, 59030, Tekirdağ, Turkey.
The taxa belonging to the genus Crocus L. are geophytes with a subterranean corm, which helps the
plant to survive the harsh conditions of a year, such as the summer heat and drought. However, the
advantage of getting over the harsh conditions turns into a disadvantage in the reproduction process.
The crocuses have a very short, a considerable cool and rainy time to flower and attract their pollinators.
Most of the geophytes overcome this situation by producing flowers with remarkable colours and
temptress scents for their pollinators. The flowers of geophytes caught the attention of the human being
as well. For years the geophytes gained their place in the rock gardens, private gardens or botanical
gardens; and, of course, the crocuses stood out amongst these geophytes.
Taxa of this ornamental genus have a distribution from West China to Middle Europe. However, the
richness and diversity of crocuses can be observed in the Mediterranean Basin; the diversity centre can
be located more precisely in southwest Anatolia, Greece and the Balkans. The climate in the distribution
area of the taxa can be characterized as cold winters, rainy and chilly spring and autumn, hot and
dry summer. This climate resembles to the Mediterranean climate and can also be found in some parts
of the Irano-Turanian as well as the Euro-Siberian phytogeographic region. The developmental stages
of the plant can be observed from autumn to spring, whereas the plant “sleeps away” the summer season.
Many taxa begin to grow their aboveground organs together with the autumn rains and flower
right after; however, some prefer to flower in early spring, when it is slightly warmer.
The genus Crocus is a very active plant group from a botanist’s point of view. More than 30% of the
taxa were discovered and introduced in the past 30 years, the better part of them from Turkey.
Currently, there are 92 taxa distributed in Turkey, 31 of them introduced to science in the past 30 years.
The complex systematics of the genus led to misplacement of many new taxa into wrong systematic
subgroups, which were replaced with detailed molecular biology studies. Another focus point of the
studies is the “subspecies system” of the genus. The problem can be easily explained by the fact that
Crocus biflorus Mill. possesses 21 subspecies. This presentation sums up the last developments within
the genus with a special emphasis to its ornamental properties.
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