420 



CROCUS. 



ZNGltSti FlOWEtl GARDEN. 



CROCUS. 



Of the Crocuses recently introduced, 

 many vernal species will probably be 

 suitable for the spring garden, but as 

 they are rare and scarcely procurable, 

 we give those more generally known 

 and easy to obtain. 



C. ALTAVICUS. The flowers of this new 

 Asiatic species are white, yellow towards 

 the throat, the outer surface of the outer 

 segments being freckled with rich purple. 

 It is a free-flowering species, but from its 

 early-flowering time, January and Febru- 

 ary, it can only be grown to advantage 

 under a cold frame. A white variety 

 without external purple freckling is not 

 uncommon. The leaves are produced at 

 the flowering time in early spring. 



C. AUREUS. A handsome plant from 

 the Banat, Transylvania, European Tur- 

 key, Greece, and W. Bithynia, generally at 

 low elevations, flowering in February. It 

 was one of the first introduced to cultiva- 

 tion, and is the parent of our yellow garden 

 or Dutch yellow Crocus, and of a number 

 of old varieties lacteus, sulphureus, palli- 

 dus, striatus, etc., the history of which is 

 unknown ; they are not found wild, and 

 are sterile. The wild plant varies con- 

 siderably, from unstriped orange to varie- 

 ties striped with grey lines, like those in 

 the Dutch yellow Crocus. The stigmata 

 are short, unbranched, pale yellow, and 

 much shorter than the anthers ; in the 

 Transylvanian plant the stigmata are 

 occasionally orange. The anthers are 

 wedge-shaped tapering towards the point, 

 and notably divergent. The unstriped 

 form readily produces seed when in culti- 

 vation, but the striped Dutch yellow is 

 sterile, though effete capsules are occasion- 

 ally formed. C. Olivieri resembles C. 

 aureus, but is smaller. 



C. BANATICUS. Common in the Banat, 

 Hungary, and Transylvania, where it 

 takes the place of C. vernus, to which it 

 is allied. It is highly ornamental ; the 

 flowers are a rich deep purple, occasionally 

 varied with white, with a darker purple 

 blotch near the end of the segments. The 

 throat is glabrous, which easily distin- 

 guishes it from C. vernus. It is cultivated 

 in several Continental and English gardens 

 under the name of C. veluchensis a dis- 

 tinct species. Flowers in February and 

 March. 



C. BIFLORUS. The Scotch, or Cloth of 

 Silver, Crocus is a large variety of the 

 typical form, and is abundant throughout 

 a large portion of Italy. The segments 

 vary from white to a pale lavender, the 

 outer surface of the outer segments being 

 distinctly feathered with purple markings. 

 In var. estriatus, from Florence, the 

 flowers . are a uniform pale lavender, 

 orange towards the base. In var. Weldeni, 

 from Trieste and Dalmatia, the outer 

 segments ,are externally freckled with 

 bright purple. In C. nubigenus, a very 



small variety from Asia Minor, the outer 

 segments are suffused and freckled with 

 brown ; C. Pestalozza is an albino of this 

 variety. In C. Adami, from the Caucasus, 

 the segments are pale purple, either self- 

 coloured or externally feathered with dark 

 purple. C. biflorus is an early-flowering 

 spring species, and is high ornamental for 

 border decoration. 



C. BORYI. Flowers white, but bright 

 orange at the throat. Abundant at Corfu 

 and in the neighbourhood of Patras, 

 flowers in October, but it does not bloom 

 freely in cultivation, and requires the 

 protection of glass for the development of 

 its flowers. 



C. BYZANTINUS. See C. iridiflorus. 

 C. CANCELLATUS. A beautiful autumnal 

 species, varying from white to pale bluish- 

 purple. The flowers are generally veined 

 or feathered towards the base of the seg- 

 ments. They appear without the leaves, 

 which come in spring. The flowering time 

 is from the end of October to December. 

 A robust species, easy of culture, but, like 

 many late autumnal species, is seen to 

 best advantage under a cold frame. It is 

 known as C. Schimperi, C. Spruneri, C. 

 cilicicus, and C. damascenus. The western 

 forms are nearly white, and the eastern 

 are either blue or purple ; but the differ- 

 ences of colour are not sufficient to distin- 

 guish them as species. 



C. CHRYSANTHUS. A vernal Crocus, 

 flowering from January to March according 

 to elevation, which varies from a little 

 above the sea-level to a height of three or 

 four thousand feet. The flowers are 

 smaller than those of C. aureus, and are 

 usually of bright orange, but occasionally 

 bronzed and feathered externally. A 

 white variety is also found in Bithynia 

 and on Mount Olympus above Broussa ; 

 this species also varies with pale sulphur- 

 coloured flowers, occasionally suffused 

 with blue towards the end of trie segments 

 dying out towards the orange throat. 

 There are four varieties of this Crocus, 

 distinct in colouring; they arefusco-tinctus, 

 fusco-lineatus, albidus, and ccerulescens . 



C. IMPERATI. One of the earliest vernal 

 species, abundant south of Naples, and . 

 said to extend to Calabria. Lilac. Very 

 variable in colour and markings. Two 

 varieties occur near Ravelle a self- 

 coloured white and a clear rose. The 

 outer surface of the outer segments is 

 coated with rich buff, suffused with purple 

 featherings. Its robust habit and early 

 flowering make it one of the most valuable 

 species for spring gardening. It flowers a 

 fortnight and three weeks before C. vernus. 

 Similar to it is C. minimus, abundant on 

 the west coast of Corsica, the neighbouring 

 islets, and in parts of Sardinia ; it flowers 

 from the end of January to March. The 

 flowers resemble those of C. Imperati in 

 miniature, but are of a darker purple and 

 heavily suffused with external brown 



