CHAPTER XX. 



Tab. XXXVII. — the autumnal croctts. 



The colchicum autumnale. This plant before us exhibits a 

 mode of fructification scarcely paralleled among British veg- 

 etables. The flowers appearing very late in autumn, the im- 

 pregnated germen remains latent under ground close to the 

 bulb till the following spring, when the capsule rises above 

 the surface accompanied by several long upright leaves, and 

 the seeds are ripened about June, after which the leaves de- 

 cay. See British Botany, vol. i. p. 133. The plant is repre- 

 sented as it appears in spring ; the root is divided to show 

 the seed vessel near the bulb. The flower is remarkable for 

 the length of its tube. 



