CROCUS VERNUS. , S5 



cibeddi, in sunny places in the woods of Cannata on Mount Etna, Monte Tessoro, 

 and on calcareous rocks above Castelbuono at an altitude of between three and 

 four thousand feet, flowering early in April. 



There are many places in the north of Europe where C. vermis occurs in an 

 apparently wild state; but looking at the well-defined boundary of its wild area, 

 and at the fact that for at least three centuries C. vermis has been a popular garden 

 plant, it is probable that its occurrence in England and other parts of northern 

 Europe, is the result of escape from cultivation. 



In England it has become naturalized at Mendham in Suffolk; and at Harl- 

 aston on the southern borders of Norfolk. It is abundant in the meadow below 

 the old garden of Swarthmoor Hall Lancashire. It has been found near Leeds; 

 by the side of the Trent south of Nottingham (Sabine); in Brookman's Park, 

 Hertfordshire (Sabine); and near Hornsea and Colney Hatch in Middlesex. 



In Ireland it occurs apparently wild near the old castle Dunganstown County 

 Wicklow; and at Limavady County Derry. 



It was found at Aarstad near Bergen, Norway, by Dr. Blytt, on the iSth. of 

 April, 1848. 



In the Netherlands it grows at Haren, near Groningen, where the blue and 

 white forms are intermixed. 



Professor Oudemans, in his Flora Nederland (vol. iii, p. 156), records its occurrence 

 in the wood at Middlehoost and other parts of the Hague; and Gaspard Pelletier 

 wrote as long ago as 16 10 of its being then wild in the Netherlands. 



Crocus vermis is the only Central European species which approaches the Spanish 

 area, within which a set of species occurs distinct from the species of Central 

 Europe. 



There are few species which present such wide variations both in stature and 

 colouring, or in which the varieties are so irregularly distributed in relation to 

 locality and altitude. As a rule C. vermis is inherently variable; in most of its 

 habitats it is difficult to find two individuals precisely similar, the varieties ranging 

 from pure white to deep purple, many with intermediate variations of colour and 

 markings, being intermixed. This is the case at Pratolino, near Florence, on Mont 

 Cenis, and on other parts of the Alps. In the Apennines, and in Dalmatia, a large 

 purple form, var. neapolitanus of Herbert, occurs, and it is the exception to find 

 white or other varieties intermixed. 



Again, as regards stature, the large and small forms are found at both high 

 and low elevations. The variety siciilus of Tineo, with segments barely half an inch 

 long, is found on the Sicilian mountains; and the nearly allied variety albiflorus of 

 Gay, at a comparatively low level on the limestone plateau above Trieste. The 

 varieties found on Mount Cenis, at an altitude of from six thousand to seven thou- 



