LILY FAMILY 



495 



fruit a capsule. (Name of Greek origin, from Colchis, a country 

 famous for medicinal herbs.) 



I. C. autumndU (Meadow Saffron, Autumn Crocus). — Leaves 

 lanceolate, dark green, glabrous, often a foot long, produced in 



c6lchicum autumnAl6 {Meadozu Saffron), 



NARTH^CIUM OSSIFRAGUM 



{Bog Asphodel). 



spring and withering in summer ; flowers light purple or white, 

 presenting no conspicuous difference from Crocuses except their 

 6 stamens ; ovary remaining underground until the spring after 

 flowering, when they are borne up by the elongating peduncle and 



