Tab. 7181. 

 COLCHICUM Sibthorpii. 



Native of Greece. 



Nat. Ord. Liliace^. — Tribe Oolchice;e. 

 Genus Colchicum, Linn.; (Benth. & Hooh.f. Gen. PI vol. iii. p. 821.) 



CoLcnicuM Sibthorpii ; cormo ovoideo magno tunicis saturate brunneis, foliis 

 5-6 vernalibus suberectis lineari-oblongis obtusis planis, floribus au- 

 tumnalibus, spatbse ore obliquo lilacino, perianthii tubo elongato albido, 

 limbo campanulato segmentis oblongis obtusis distincte tessellatis, 

 antheris magnis Iinearibus luteis, stigmate oblongo. 



C. Sibthorpii, Baker in Journ. Linn. Soc. vol. xvii. p. 427. 



0. latifolium, Sibth. 8f Smith Fl. Graca, t. 350, as regards the flowers only ; 

 Bolts. Fl. Orient, vnl. v. p. 159. 



This is by far the finest of all the Colchicums which are 

 in cultivation. It inhabits the mountains of Greece and 

 Macedonia, ascending to five thousand feet above the sea- 

 level. It agrees with G. variegatnm and Parkinsoni in its 

 distinctly tessellated flowers, but the segments of the 

 perianth are much broader, and the leaves, like those of 

 G. autwmnale, suberect, obtuse and not at all undulated. 

 It is the plant which is figured by Sibthorp and Smith in 

 the " Flora Graaca " under the name of 6. latifolium, but 

 they figure the flowers only, and their description of the 

 leaves, on which the name latifolium is founded, refers to 

 the totally different non-tessellated broad-leaved C. hy- 

 zantirwm (Bot. Mag., tab. 1122). The present plant has 

 only been introduced very lately into cultivation in this 

 country. Our drawing was made from plants which pro- 

 duced flowers in the Royal Gardens, Kew, la3t October and 

 leaves at the end of February. The corms were received 

 from Herr Max Leichtlin in August, 1890, and flowered 

 freely in the open border. 



Dbsoe. Conn large, ovoid ; tunics chartaceous, dark 

 brown. Leaves five or six, produced with the fruit in 

 spring, linear-oblong, suberect, dull green, not at all un- 

 dulated, finally a foot or more long, an inch and a half or 



Jijxe 1st, 1891. 



