Tas. 6153. 
COLCHICUM tourevm. 
Native of Kashmir and Afghanistan. 
Nat. Ord. MELANTHACE. 
Cotcuicum luteum; cormo pollicari dimidiato-globoso, tunicis levibus 
castaneis membranaceis, vaginatis foliis 3-4 Jinearibus  obtusis 
demum elongatis 6 pollicaribus 4-4 poll. latis, floribus 1-3 cum 
foliis costaniis luteis, perianthii tubo 2-3 pollicari, limbi segmentis 
pollicaribus lineari-oblongis obtusis, antheris luteis linearibus fila- 
menta basifixa longe superantibus, stigmatibus luteis filiformibus 
elongatis exsertis, carpellis pollicaribus superne liberis in  stylos 
attenuatis, 
C. luteum, Baker in Gard. Chron., 1874, p. 33. 
Melanthacew, Grif. Posth. Papers, vol. ii. p. 328. 
Mr. Baker, who described this pretty little plant from 
dried specimens preserved in the Hookerian Herbarium, re- 
marks that it would be a great acquisition to our stock of 
cultivated Colchicums, and would no doubt be hardy in our 
English gardens; also, that it is the only yellow-flowered 
kind hitherto known, all the others being of a purple colour 
running off into white. As a species it belongs to the 
Mediterranean group, with leaves and flowers produced at 
the same time, and both in spring. It is a native of the 
mountains in the extreme West of India beyond the Indus, 
in Hazara, at an elevation of 7000 feet, where it flowers in 
December and J anuary. An apparently identical plant has 
been gathered by Dr. Thomson, F.R.S., in the valley of 
Kashmir, at an elevation of 5-7000 feet, flowering in 
June; by Stocks in Beluchistan; and by Griffith, who 1s 
the discoverer of the species, in Kafferisthan, near Otipore, 
about the year 1840, flowering in April at an elevation of 
6-7000 feet. It has also been gathered by Stocks mm 
upper Beluchistan, and by Henderson in the Zoji pass in 
Kashmir. For the specimens here I am indebted to Dr. 
Atchison, F.L.S., of the Indian Medical Service, an ex- 
MARCH Ist, 1875. 
