Crocus baytopiorum

Crocus baytopiorum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Iridaceae
Genus:	Crocus
Species:	C. baytopiorum
Binomial name
Crocus baytopiorum B.Mathew

Crocus baytopiorum is a species of flowering plant in the genus Crocus of the family Iridaceae. It is a cormous perennial native to Turkey.

Description

Crocus baytopiorum is a spring flowering herbaceous perennial geophyte growing from a corm. The 13 cm wide corm is a flatted egg shape. The tunic around the corm has thick fibers and is coarsely netted. A spathe (sheath that covers the flower before it opens) subtends the inflorescence. The pale blue flowers are distinctive.[1] The arillate seeds are red with a pointed end.[2]

Habitat

Crocus baytopiorum is native to limestone screes, rocky gullies, in open pine and juniper woodland.[1] Flowering occurs in February.[3]

The species was named in honor of Professors Turhan & Asuman Baytop from Istanbul,[2] who discovered it in 1973 and it was described by the Kew botanist Brian Mathew.[1]

References

1. "Crocus baytopiorum B.Mathew | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
2. Mathew, Brian (1974). "A New Turkish Crocus (Iridaceae)". Kew Bulletin. 29 (1): 88. doi:10.2307/4108375. ISSN 0075-5974. JSTOR 4108375.
3. Phillips, Roger; Rix, Martyn (1989). The Random House Book of Bulbs. Random House. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-679-72756-9.