GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE GENUS CROCUS. 865 
Section 3. Annulati. Basal tunic of corm separating into 
annuli. 
Spring-flowering. 
57. cyprius. 60. Crewei. 62. chrysanthus. 
58. aörius. 61. tauri. 63. Danfordiz. 
59. billorus. 
Autumn-flowering. 
64. speciosus. 65. pulchellus. 
Section 4. Intertexti (Spring-flowering). With a corm-tunie of 
stranded or plaited fibres. 
66. Fleischeri. 67. parviflorus. 
Geographical Distribution.—The known limits of the genus, 
which is confined to the Old World in the northern hemi- 
sphere, may be approximately stated to be between 9? W. and 
87^ E. longitude, and 55? N. and 31? N. latitude, the main eastern 
limit being 50? E. longitude and main northern limit 48° N. lati- 
tude—the occurrence of C. alatavicus in the Ala-Tau Mountains 
of Central Asia carrying the genus far north-east of the general 
area of occurrence. oC. Clusii, in Portugal, is the most western 
species, C. hyemalis, in South Palestine, the most southern spe- 
cies at present known, and C. Salzmanni the most south-western 
species. 
The area of distribution of the genus would roughly centre 
round the Mediterranean and Black-Sea coasts, though it does 
not form an essential feature of what is known as the Mediter- 
ranean flora, many of the species ascending to high ranges of 
altitude. 
Looking at the prevalence of species and to general wide 
distribution, the district, including Greece, the Greek Archi- 
pelago, and Asia Minor, must be looked upon as the metropolis 
of the genus; for in this region it forms a more important fea- 
ture in the flora than the outlying countries to which it extends. 
As a means of indicating in a concise form the general range 
ofthe species, I propose to divide the region occupied by the 
genus into nine subdistricts, giving lists of the species occur- 
ring in each, and expressing by letters the extension ofthe species 
of each district into neighbouring districts. 
The division into subdistricts may be to some extent arbitrary ; 
but it has been as far as possible ruled by natural geographical 
boundaries or the ascertained range of the more prominent 
species. Where a species is named in the subdistrict lists without 
