CEOCUS 



THE IHTT.B BOOK 



CROCUS 



and safe parts of tlic rock-<:arflen 

 where they can be watched and 

 looked after easily. The commoner 

 species may be planted in the formal 

 flower-beds, in the borders and 

 shrubberies beneath deciduous flower- 

 ing trees and shrubs, in grassland, 

 on lawns, or in the rockery, in all 

 of which places they will make a 

 charming and brilliant disjjlay early 

 in the year. 



II,— Autumn-flowering Crocuses. 



C. astuHcus. 



C. cancellatus. 



C. Boryi. 



C. hyzantinus. 



C Camhessedesi. 



C. caspim. 



C. Clmi. 



C. hadriaticus. 



C. hermoneus. 



C. irid/Jlfjrus. 



C. Karduchorum. 



C. Icevigatus. 



C lazicus. 



C. lowjiflorus. 



C. marathonisius. 

 C. medius. 

 C. nudiflorus. 

 C. ochrolewus. 

 C. jmlchellus. 

 C. Salzmanni. 

 C. sativus. 

 C. Scharojani. 

 C. serotinus. 

 G. speciosus. 

 G. Tourneforti. 

 G. zonatus. 

 G. vcdlicola. 

 G. Veneris. 



The Crocuses that flower in thu 

 autumn must not be confused with 

 Golchicnm autmnnale (see p. 145), 

 which is popularly known as the 

 "Autumn Crocus" — although it has 

 nothing whatever to do with the 

 genus Crocus, and even belongs to a 

 quite different family— the Liliaccai. 



The species of true Crocus men- 

 tioned above are in most cases quite 

 hardy, and when procurable in 

 quantity should be planted in bold 

 masses in the same way as the spring- 

 flowering kinds. The period of 

 planting, however, is much earlier, 

 and the conns should be in the ground 

 not later than the end of June or 

 July, as some of the earlier kinds— 

 (!.g. C. Scharojani — come into blossom 

 in August. 



Once Crocuses of ;dl kinds are 



1 



established, it is a good plan to leave 

 them undisturbed for some years if 

 possible. They will then produce 

 a more gorgeous efi'ect year after year. 

 After the flowering period is over, 

 and the dead foliage is cleared away, 

 the ground may be covered with 

 fibrous-rooted plants to fill up the re- 

 maining portion of the year. 



Propagation. — Crocuses as a rule 

 are easily increased by separating 



Fia. lOG.— Crocus, corms with seed-po<is. (i.) 



the young corms from each other and 

 planting each one singly. These 

 young corms are the result of the 

 season's growth, and are developed on 

 top of the original conn, which yields 

 up its store of nourishment for the 

 production of flowers and leaves. 

 This' process goes on year after year, 

 and if the plants arc not lifted the 

 new corms are always kept at a 

 j)roper depth beneath the surface of 

 the soil by means of the force exerted 

 by the contractile roots (see p. 8). 



When it is desired to raise Crocuses 

 from seed, one should wait until the 

 capsules are thoroughly ripe, and, 

 with few exceptions, most Crocuses 

 produce seed. In the early stages 

 the seed-vessel is hidden beneath the 

 soil, and it is not until after the 

 GG 



