4 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



it. So, too, of the myrial alpine plants that make gay the high 

 places of our earth. 



Crocuses are near relatives of the Iris or fleur-de-lis, hav- 

 ing a funnel-shaped perianth, with very long tube and a six- 

 parted border. Included within and attached to the floral 

 envelope, are three stamens. The fringed stigma looks almost 

 like a second flower, with its wedge-shaped lobes. The ovary 

 is usually far under ground. We have sometimes dug several 

 inches without finding it. The linear leaves with revolute 

 margins are not quite simultaneous with the flowers. 



We associate crocuses with the spring, but there are cer- 

 tain species that are autumnal bloomers. One of these, 

 Crocus sativa, yields the saffron of commerce. This consists 

 of the carefully dried stigmas, which are of a deep orange 

 yellow. This substance is used in a variety of ways in paint- 

 ing and dyeing. Formerly it was employed to some extent in 

 medicine and perhaps may be still in the pharmacopeia. In 

 small quantities it is stimulating, and in larger narcotic, a by 

 no means unusual or even novel action. It has been known of 

 many substances since medicine had a name. Hence we con- 

 fess to impatience when it is trumpeted as a recent discovery. 



The true crocus region, the part of the world where it 

 reaches its fullest development is the Mediterranean Zone. 

 The centre of its distribution includes Greece and Asia Minor. 

 We love to think that the Greeks knew these lovely flowers 

 and that may have been in the nose-gay of poor Persephone. 

 In cultivation they easily spread from the garden to the lawn. 

 For ourselves, we would leave them there to set their bright 

 stars in the green firmament. 



According to the species we find quite a variety of colors, 

 white, yellow, orange, purple and violet. No really red one is 

 known. As soon as they bloom the bees discover them. Then 

 our cat observes the bees, and following a concatention of cir- 



