+2 THE GENUS CROCUS. 



1827); and in 183 1 he published his Novelles especes de Crocus (Feruss. Bull. Sc. Nat., 

 vol. xxv., p. 29-225 (39-325), including descriptions of C. Fleischeri, Gay; C. Admi, 

 {"affinis bijlora"); C. Sieberi, Gay; C. Boryi, Gay; C. Toumefortii, Gay; C. banaticus, 

 Gay (C. byzantinus, Parkinson); C. Ctusii, Gay; C. Salzmanni, Gay (C. tingitanus, 

 Herbert); C. Cambessedesii, Gay; and C. insularis, Gay (C. minimus, B.C.); of these 

 ten species eight had not been previously described. 



!827. — J. Bellenden Ker (Gawler), in his Iridearum Genera (Brussels, 1827), at 

 page 72, described fifteen Crocuses, namely, vermis, versicolor, bifiorus, susianus, 

 sulphureits, mccsiacus, minimus, safivus, serotinus, byzantinus, candidus, odorus, autum- 

 nalis, and albiflorus: albiflorus being a variety of C. vernus, and serotinus and 

 aufumnalis probably synonymous. Ker's enumeration would be reduced to about 

 twelve species. 



As far as it goes, his work is of value in bringing together the synonymy of 

 the earlier authors: of Clusius, 1590; Parkinson, 1640; Tournefort, 1700- 17 19; 

 Miller, 1760; Bulliard, 1780; Lamarck, 1785; Vahl, 1790; Redoute, 1802; Sprengel, 

 1810; and Roemer and Schultes, 1822. 



The descriptions of Crocuses in some of the earlier numbers of the Botanical 

 Magazine were written by Ker; and the nature and mode of inflorescence of the 

 genus, were described by Salisbury and Ker in the Annals of Botany, vol. i. pp. 

 220 and 221. 



I 8 2g< — Ajcardo Castiglioni published at Milan his Monografia dello Zafferano. 



r 83o. — Joseph Sabine, F.R.S., in the Transactions of the Horticultural Society of 

 Loudon, vol. vii. p. 419-498, gave An account of the most remarkable varieties of 

 Spring Crocuses cultivated in the Garden of the Society, with an exhaustive summary 

 of the literature of the genus; accompanied by a beautifully executed plate of 

 nineteen varieties, including perhaps five or six species. There are descriptions 

 of about one hundred vernal varieties, mostly those of vernus; but they cannot 

 all be identified: species and garden varieties, as in the earlier writings, being 

 intermingled. 



The grouping is as follows: — 



Class 1.— Spring Crocuses with yellow flowers, including 

 susianus, 



sulphureus, and five sub-varieties, 

 stella 1 is, 

 lagcncvflorus, 

 lulcus, 

 lacleus, and two sub-varieties. 



