¥ 
name of Crocus vernus,! as any one fpecies of this natural 
order is from its,neareft neighbour Or relative. This has its 
bulb:clothed with coarfe) wiry-fibrous »nette® coverings, the 
outermoft one of which has large irregular-fhaped interftices, 
the coverings of that are fmooth fcariofe fhell-like membranes, 
clofely ribbed with: fine -parallek. fibres .without the above- 
mentioned kind of interftices. This is a fmaller plant in all 
its parts, producing about two flowers from each mother-bulb, 
whereas that throws up many in fucceffiow:;' this expands its 
flowers in all weathers, the three outer fegments of which up- 
wards are rolled back and continue fo even when the flower is 
clofed in the evening, never returning, to a ftraight pofition ; 
in that the flowers expand only in clear or warm weather, and 
while in vigour all the fegments open uniformly (none being 
revolute) and clofe in the fame manner towards evening’; in 
this the ftigmas ‘areé narrower cowled-convolute, of a ‘deep 
orange colour, and reach half their length above the’ anthers ; 
in.that. they are’ convolte and flatly comp effed, yellow, ‘with 
their fummits fomewhat below t 
: for ‘ele the tops oi ‘the anthers - ihis is 
the, earlieft blower, and feems more eafily affeled by frolt 
while in. bloom. ..Mr. Sa LisBuRY, of the. Botanic, Garden, 
Brompton, where our drawing was. taken, informs uss; thatshe - 
never obferved this fpecies to feed with him, thou ch nioft others 
do freely.” "This fpecies (fo chara&eriftically figured in wiany OF 
the older books, particularly ‘in’ the Fortus Ex fieitenfisy was 
_ received by Crustus:at Frankfort, about the: year 1587, from — 
Conftantinople, as was the Crocus vernus of this work,(our 
mafiacus) {rom near Belgrade ; both may be eafily diftinguifhed 
from the purple-flowered Crocus vernus.(which we fuppofe 
to be a native of our parts of Europe and is.the lateft flowerer | 
ofthe three) by not having the mouth of their tubeoclofed:by 
wring of glandular entangled hairs ;..to, this. lait. the; fpecifi¢ 
name of vernus maybe continued. ==, | : 
The obfervations of Jacquin and Eugwarr, fromwhich we 
were Jed to look for and afcertain the exiftence of the fecond © 
valve in the fpathe of this genus and corre& an error fan@tioned 
by the names of Linnzus and Jussieu, were kindly pointed 
out to us by Mr. C. Konic, a gentleman from whom: the 
public may fhortly expe& much ufeful information ina pe- 
riodical work, the firft number of which is now in: the prefs, 
and which is to confift of tranflations of traéts.as yet little 
known among ft us, from all languages, with notes. and obfer- ate x 
vations. Jacguin, when he fays that the valves are abies 
and fometimes four, feems to us to have ‘miftaken the 
that envelopes the: ftems- for the yalve,—-G.-—-—— cont 
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feat 
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