THE GENUS CROCUS. 



Fig. 7. Leaf section of C. iridiflorus 



channels vary much in different species, from being entirely open, as in the case 

 of C. iridiflorus (Plate I, fig. 9, and fig. 7), to being closed by the margin of the 

 blade meeting, or nearly meeting the margin of the keel. In the majority of 

 species the lateral channels have a plain surface, and in others, e.g. C. nudiflorus 

 (Plate VI, fig. 8, and fig. 6, Q, they contain one, two, or more ridges, the 

 presence or absence of which is a character sufficiently constant for specific dis- 

 tinction. 



The proper-leaves are generally glabrous; but in some species, as in C. sat nuts 

 and its allies (Fig. 6, B, and Plate XXIX, fig. 8,) and in C. aureus (Plate LV, fig. 9), 

 the margins of the keel and blade are ciliated; this is also a constant character. 



Fig. 8. Leaf sections. A, vallicola. B, nevadensis. C. carpetanus. 



Of the several departures of leaf-structure from the ordinary type, the Central 

 Spanish species, C. carpetanus (Plate XLI, fig. 8, and fig. 8, Q, is the most aberrant; 

 the distinction between the keel and the blade is lost; the leaf is semi-cylindrical, 

 the back being farrowed with about sixteen alternating ridges and channels. The 

 leaves of the South Spanish C. nevadensis (Plate XLII, fig. 15, and fig. 8, B,) 

 present a character intermediate between those of C. carpetanus and those of the 

 more general type, the back being ridged and furrowed, but containing also slight 



lateral channels. 



In three Eastern species, C. vallicola (Plate II, fig. 17, and fig. 8, A,), C. 

 Scharojani (Plate III, fig. 7), and C. zonatus (Plate IV, fig. 9), the leaves depart from 

 the general type in the opposite direction, the keel being developed to nearly the 

 width of the blade, and the white central band but slightly developed. 



