CROCUS.] IRIDE^E. 



2. CRO'CUS, L. 



Corm with sheathing fibrous coats. Stem 0. Leaves radical, sur- 

 rounded by scarious sheaths, narrow-linear, channelled, white beneath, 

 margins recurved. Flowers solitary or fascicled, almost sessile. Perianth 

 large, tube very long ; segments equal, narrow-oblong, oncave. Stamens 

 on the bases of the outer segments, filaments free ; anthers basifixed. 

 Ovary subterranean, hidden amongst the leaf-bases, ovoid, colourless ; style 

 filiform, stigmas 3 cuneate dilated or laciniate. Capsule on a long thin 

 pedicel, fusiform. Seeds globose, testa thick. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, 

 N. and W. Asia ; species 28. ETYM. The old Greek name. 



1. C. nudiflo'rus, L. ; flowers solitary autumnal, stigmas multifid. 

 Meadows, Lancaster, Derby, Notts, Warwick, Stafford, &c. ; a denizen or 

 native, Watson ; fl. Sept. -Oct. Corm subglobose, clothed with rich brown 

 coats of parallel fibres. Leaves vernal. Perianth lobes 2 in. , bright purple. 

 Anthers pale orange-yellow. Stigmas orange, their segments truncate and 

 crenate. Seeds as in C. vernus. DISTRIB. France and Spain. 

 C. VER'NUS, L. ; flowers few vernal, stigmas toothed. Purple Crocus. 

 Naturalized in meadows at Nottingham, Hornsey, Middlesex, and elsewhere 

 in England and Ireland ; fl. March- April. Corm broad, depressed ; sheaths 

 of reticulate fibres, much torn, dirty brown. Perianth lobes 1-2 in., purple 

 or white. Anthers pale bright-yellow. Stigmas deep-orange. Capsule. g-| in. 

 Seeds reddish, small. DISTRIB. Mid. and S. Europe. 



3. I RIS, L. 



PMotstock tuberous or creeping. Leaves chiefly radical, equitant, ensiform. 

 Scape compressed ; spathes terminal with scarious borders. Perianth-tube 

 short, rarely long ; sepals large, stipitate, reflexed, stipes channelled ; 

 petals smaller, suberect, stipitate, margins of stipes involute. Stamens 

 inserted on the base of the sepals, filaments free ; anthers basifixed. 

 Ovary 3-gonous ; style stout, stigmas 3 very broad petaloid arching over 

 the stamens 2-fid and with a transverse lamella, stigmatic surface a point 

 below the lamella. Capsule coriaceous, 3-gonous, 3-ribbed. Seeds many, 

 flat or globose, testa coriaceous hard or thick. DISTRIB. N. temp, regions; 

 species 48. ETYM. The Greek name, from the hues of the flower. 



1. I. Pseud-ac'orus, L. ; flowers bright yellow, petals f shorter than 

 the sepals. Yellow Flag. 



River-banks, ditches, &c. ; fl. May- Aug.- Rootstock creeping, stout. Leaves 

 2-4 ft., -1 in. broad. Scape 2-4 ft., leafy, often branched at the top; 

 pedicels about as long as the ovary ; spathes 2 in., acute or obtuse. Flowers 

 3-4 in. diam., tube cylindric, variable in colour and form of the segments ; 

 sepals often purple-veined, with an orange spot near the base; petals 

 spathulate. Stigmas yellow. Seeds much vertically compressed, faces flat, 

 testa hard. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, Siberia. Rootstock acrid. 



2. I. fcetidis sima, L.; flowers yellow or purple, petals J shorter 

 than the sepals. Foetid Iris, Roast-beef plant. 



Copses and hedgebanks, chiefly on limestone and chalk, from Durham south- 

 wards; naturalized only in Scotland; rare in Ireland ; fl. May-July.- liootstock 

 stout, creeping. Leaves much as in /. Pxeud-acarus, darker green and more 

 flaccid. Scape 1-2 ft., leafy; pedicels longer than the ovary ; spathes 3-4 in., 



