THE FLORA OF HALIFAX. IO5 



1862. Well Head fields near Halifax. — C. Eastwood; 

 Birkby.— Hudd. Nat. Hist. ; near Ovenden Hall and 

 Ovenden Wood. — /. Bates ; Miall's Flora. 



1877. Crocus sativus. In a field near Great House, East- 

 wood (two miles east of Todmorden), possibly an outcast 

 trom a garden, but occurs in some quantity. — A . Stansfield. 

 No specimen examined, and I suspect that the Calder 

 Valley plant is all C. nudiflorus ; both are autumn bloom- 

 ers, and the stigmas vary much in strength of scent.— 

 F. A. Lees in Flora. 



The above records all refer to C. nudiflorus, which was also 

 first described as Colchicum at Nottingham (1738), and as 

 C. sativus at Derby. It is found more frequently about Halifax 

 than in any other district in England, except South Lancashire, 

 though the previously published stations are not numerous. 

 Its probable origin in the district is discussed elsewhere, but 

 an acquaintance with its Halifax stations shows conclusively 

 ( 1) that it cannot be merely a garden escape or outcast ; (2) 

 that it is not confined to low-lying river-side meadows. It is 

 now found in the following localities: (i.) Well Head Fields, 

 Halifax ; in considerable quantity in the pasture, and several 

 patches in the meadow, between Clover Hill and Skircoat 

 Road ; also a few bulbs in the adjoining vicarage glebe. It 

 does not appear to remain at Savile Green itself, which is 

 entirely occupied by gardens and residences, but the two places 

 are practically the same station, (ii.) Coley, Winter Edge 

 Farm (1895). < m -) Ovenden Hall; in considerable quantity 

 in two or three fields in Grove Lane, on the side further from 

 the Hall, most abundant in the hedge side, (iv.) Watkinson 

 Hall Park, Ovenden ; south side of the railway cutting (1893). 

 (v.) Ovenden Brook, north of Holmfield ; in numerous fields 

 near Holdsworth to Lower Scholecroft and Woodlands 

 Farms, bordering the railway cutting and the stream for about 

 a mile, ascending to about 750 feet. Only on the right bank 

 of the stream, the left is composed of shales and clay of lower 

 coal measures. In some of the fields, which are occasionally 

 brought under the plough, it is confined to the edges, where, 

 however, it is abundant, (vi.) Spring Gardens, Wheatley ; 

 abundant in a meadow below Ramsden Wood, where it has 

 been known to residents for more than eighty years. (= 

 Ovenden Wood of 1862). This station is about a mile west 

 of Ovenden Hall and the Hebble Valley, (vii.) Warley 



