No Apologies

for another Crocus! They're fleeting jewels, best served fresh.

Crocus cartwrightianus, named for John Cartwright, British Consul in (what was then) Constantinople in the second half of the 19th Century.

This is a particularly dark coloured seedling. The species is thought to be the originator of the Saffron Crocus, Crocus sativus which is not known as a wild plant. The long red style branches, here two are stuck together, are harvested as saffron.