Crocus biflorus ssp melantherus

Caught in a brief period of sunshine this morning.

A much needed day off and I managed to be at home for our 30 minutes of blue skies. It turned grey soon after, later as darkness approached I retired to the sofa with a good book ... and fell asleep!

Crocus biflorus subspecies melanthrus hails from Greece where it is the only autumn flowering member of the Crocus biflorus clan. Some of the others give us the small species crocus widely grown in gardens, flowering in spring. The subspecific epithet 'melantherus' comes from the anthers which are black, opening to release golden pollen.