CROCl'S CARPETANUS. 



Crocus carpetanus is limited to the chain of mountains crossing the Spanish 

 peninsula from north-east to south-west, through central Spain and Portugal, ranging 

 from 3 to 8° west longitude, and from 40 to 41^° north latitude, at altitudes of 

 from four thousand to seven thousand feet. It occurs in the Sierra de Guadarrama, 

 in the mountains forming] a spur of the range above El Escorial where I gathered 

 it abundantly, in 1879, in company with the late Rev. H. Harpur Crewe at altitudes 

 of from four thousand to five thousand feet; near Marichiva, Pefialara and at the 

 Puerto del Reventon. Mr. C. C. Lacaita found it in the spring of 1882, abundantly 

 in the pine woods on the north side of the Puerto de Nava Cerrada, and on the 

 open ground at and above the Puerto, at an altitude of five thousand eight hundred 

 and thirty-three feet. It has also been recorded from the Sierra de Majareina, and 

 from the alpine region above Gerte near Placencia, flowering as late as June the 

 1 6th. In Portugal it occurs on the Serra d' Estrella, and in the neighbourhood 

 of Coimbra. 



In cultivation C. carpetanus flowers from February to April, but as late as May 

 and June at high altitudes in its native habitats. There are few species in which 

 so many characters, aberrant from those most usually found, are associated. The 

 soft reticulated corm tunic, resembling tow in texture, is found in no other species. 

 The leaf-structure, in which the lateral channel is absent, is also peculiar, likewise 

 the delicate lilac pistil. Its nearest ally is C. uevadensis, found in the south Spanish 

 mountains and Algeria, in which the leaf partakes somewhat of the character of 

 C. carpetanus, but has a slightly developed lateral channel. 



REFERENCES TO PLATE XLI. 



Fig. 1. Flowering-state, March 16th, actual size. 



Fig. 2. White variety, actual size. 



Fig. 3. With matured leaves and capsule, July 7th, actual size. 



Fig. 4. Diagrammatic dissection of scape, ovary, and spathes, actual size. 



Fig. 5. Stamens and Pistil, magnified two-fold. 



Fig. 6. Pollen Grain, magnified one hundred and fifty-fold. 



Fig. 7. Stigmata, magnified six-fold. 



Fig. 8. Section of leaf, magnified twelve-fold. 



Fig. 9. Corm tunic, magnified two-fold. 



Fig. 10. Seed, magnified six-fold. 



2 F 



