Flora-Fauna

Crocus vitellinus Wahlenb.

(First published in J.Berggren, Resor Eur. Österländ. 2(Bih.): 59 (1826); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1; 1966)

• Life-form & habit : Perennial cormous geophyte; corm small, subglobose to ovoid, enclosed in brown membranous to fibrous tunics; plant low, usually flowering at or shortly above ground level.

• Leaves : Leaves narrow, linear, appearing with the flowers or soon after, dark green with a pale median stripe, channelled, glabrous, usually several per corm.

• Inflorescence & flowers : Flowers solitary or few from each corm; perianth tube slender; tepals bright yellow to deep golden-yellow, sometimes paler externally; throat yellow; anthers yellow; style divided into orange to yellow-orange branches.

• Fruit : Capsule ellipsoid, developing close to the ground after flowering; seeds small, rounded, brownish.

• Phenology : Flowers from January to March; fruiting in spring.

• Habitat & elevation : Open rocky ground, grassy slopes, scrub clearings and thin limestone soils; from low elevations to montane zones.

• Lebanese distribution : Widespread in Lebanon, especially in open rocky habitats and lower to middle mountain zones.

• Native range : S. Türkiye to N. Israel.

• Diagnostic remarks : Readily recognised by its bright yellow flowers and early spring flowering; differs from Crocus ochroleucus by its deeper yellow perianth and from violet-flowered regional species by flower colour and phenology.