Crocus ancyrensis
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Crocus ancyrensis 3.JPG
|taxon = Crocus ancyrensis
|authority = (Herb.) Maw
|synonyms ={{species list |Crocus reticulatus var. ancyrensis|Herb.}}
}}
Crocus ancyrensis, sometimes known as the Ankara crocus,{{BSBI 2007 |accessdate=2014-10-17 }} (Turkish: Ankara çiğdemi) is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae.{{cite web |url= https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:436451-1 |title= Crocus ancyrensis (Herb.) Maw |author= |date=n.d. |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=November 30, 2024}}{{cite web |url= https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/ZKRW |title= Crocus ancyrensis (Herb.) Maw |author= |date=n.d. |website=Catalogue of Life |publisher=Species 2000 |access-date=November 30, 2024}} It is endemic to North and Central Turkey.{{cite web|url=https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=327129|title=Crocus ancyrensis|publisher= Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families|accessdate=2019-03-27}} It was named ancyrensis as it was first discovered in Ankara.{{cite web|url=https://www.atilim.edu.tr/tr/cdi/page/2739/ankara-cigdemi|title=Ankara Çiğdemi (Crocus ancyrensis)|publisher=Atılım Üniversitesi|language=tr|accessdate=2019-03-27}}
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.{{Cite book|last=Jelitto|first=Leo|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20012412|title=Hardy herbaceous perennials|date=1990|publisher=Timber Press|others=Wilhelm Schacht, Michael E. Epp, John Philip Baumgardt, Alfred Fessler|isbn=0-88192-159-9|location=Portland, Or.|page=168|oclc=20012412 }} The flowers have bright yellow throats and typically each corm produce two or three flowers.{{Cite book|last=Armitage|first=Allan M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kA6VgfxsstIC&pg=PA303|title=Herbaceous Perennial Plants: A Treatise on their Identification, Culture, and Garden Attributes|date=2008-05-01|publisher=Cool Springs Press|isbn=978-1-61058-380-0|edition=3rd }} 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.{{cite web|url=http://tubaar.tuba.gov.tr/index.php/tubaar/article/download/28/248|title=Baharın Müjdecisi: Çiğdem (Crocus) ya da AN.TAH.âUMâAR Hititler Devri Anadolu Florasına Küçük Bir Katkı|publisher=Turkish Academy of Sciences Journal of Archaeology|author=Füsun EHTUĞ|accessdate=2019-03-27|language=tr|archive-date=2019-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327130728/http://tubaar.tuba.gov.tr/index.php/tubaar/article/download/28/248|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/ankara-cigdemi-ve-cicek-muzesi-21174355|title=Ankara Çiğdemi ve Çiçek Müzesi|date=2012-08-07|publisher=Hürriyet|accessdate=2019-03-27|language=tr}}{{cite journal|title=The social context of wild leafy vegetables uses in Shiri, Daghestan|journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine|volume = 11|pages = 63|date=2015-08-11|publisher=NCBI|author=Iwona Kaliszewska and Iwona Kołodziejska-Degórska|doi=10.1186/s13002-015-0047-x|pmid = 26260575|pmc = 4542102 |doi-access=free }}
Cultivation
Gallery
Crocus ancyrensis001.jpg
Crocus ancyrensis003.jpg
Crocus ancyrensis 2.JPG
References
{{Commons category|Crocus ancyrensis}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q556360}}
Category:Plants described in 1881
Category:Taxa named by William Herbert (botanist)
{{Iridaceae-stub}}