CROCUS. 77 



Section I. Holostigma. — Venial. 



1. C. susiANus Ker in Bot. Mng. t. 652; Red. Lil. t. 293; 

 Reich. Ic. Germ. tab. 858, fig. 794; Maw, Monogr. t. 86. C. 

 rei-olutus Haw. C. reticulatus M. B. ex parte. C. Roeijnprianus 

 K. Koch. — Corm f in. diam. ; tunics of very strong reticulated 

 fibres. Basal spathe none. Leaves 6-8 to a tuft, reaching up to 

 the flower, narrow linear, with revolute edges and a distinct white 

 central band. Proper spathe diphyllous. Perianth-tube exserted, 

 brownish ; segments 1-li in. long, bright orange-yellow, soon 

 reflexing, tlie outer usually flushed or distinctly striped with brown 

 on the outside. Anthers orange, longer than the glabrous filaments. 

 Style-branches long, spreading, orange-red, faintly odorous, over- 

 topping the anthers. Seeds red, turning to brown. 



Hab. Hills of the Ciiraea. Flowers in February, earlier than mwsiacvs. 

 Has long been known in gardens as the "Cloth of Gold Crocus." Parkinson in 

 1629 distinguishes three varieties. 



2. C. MCEsiAcus Ker in Bot. Mag. sub t. 652, C. Inteus Lam. ; 

 Red. Lil. t. 196 ; Reich. Ic. Crit. tab. 926, fig. 1247. C. reruns 

 Curt. Bot. Mag. t. 45, non All. C. hifienajionis Salisb. Parad. 

 t. 106. C. Jiuribandus Haw. — Corm depresso-globose, 1 in. diam. ; 

 tunics pale brown, composed of matted parallel fibres. Basal 

 spathe absent. Leaves 6-8 to a tuft, overtopping the flower, 

 narrow linear, with reflexed edges and a distinct white central 

 band. Proper spathe diphyllous, the inner valve very narrow, 

 sometimes obsolete. Perianth-tube 2-3 times the length of the 

 limb ; segments bright yellow, very obtuse, ly-l-J- in. long, not 

 striped in the type. Anthers pale yellow, more hastate at the base 

 than in any other species, rather longer than the yellow papillose 

 filament. Style-branches pale yellow, entire, overtopped by the 

 anthers. Seeds crimson, hairy. 



Hab. The type is the well-known Dutch Crocus of cultivation, which 

 flowers late in February or early in March. C. aureus Sibth. & Sm. Fl. Graaca, 

 t. 35 ; Bot. Mag. t. 2986, less robust, with flowers smaller and bright yellow, 

 is no doubt the wild type. It extends from Transylvania through Turkey and 

 Greece to Asia Minor. C. nulpliureus Ker in Bot. Mag. t. 1384, has flowers of a 

 plain sulphur yellow ; C. suljylnireu-'i striatuti (Bot. Mag. t. 938) sulphur-yellow 

 flowers, with the outer segments distinctly striped down the back ; and C. 

 Idcteun Sabine (t. 1111) cream-white flowers and a monophyllous spathe. All 

 the forms are figured in Maw's Monograph, t. 55. 



3. C. STELLARis Haw. in Trans. Hort. Soc. i. 186 ; Maw, 

 Monogr. t. 87. — Corm globose, f-1 in. diam. ; tunics of strong 

 parallel reticulated fibres, anastomosing in the upper half. Basal 

 spathe absent. Leaves 4-6 to a tuft, narrow linear, with reflexed 

 edges and a distinct white central band. Proper spathe diphyllous. 

 Perianth-tube little exserted; limb l-n in. long, bright orange ; 

 outer segments distinctly striped and feathered on the back with 

 brown ; throat glabrous. Anthers pale orange, a little hmger than 

 the orange filament. Style-branches pale orange, entire, a little 

 overtopping the anthers. 



Hab. Known only in cultivation. Probably a garden hybrid between 

 nurtiiaciis and susicniui^. Flowers witli us early in March. - 



