314 COMMON WEEDS 



sheep and pigs did not appear to be susceptible to the 

 poisonous property of the acorns. Acorn poisoning is 

 not properly understood, but it is quite distinct from 

 indigestion due to eating an excessive quantity of 

 acorns. As the acorns are most likely to be eaten 

 in long, dry, and hot summers, when herbage on the 

 pastures is scarce, efforts should in such cases be made 

 to keep cattle off areas where acorns are abundant. 

 Sheep and pigs appear to be almost immune to the 

 poisonous action of acorns. No remedy is known (see 

 Board of Agriculture Leaflet, No. 13, and Jour. Royal 

 Agric. Soc., 1871). 



Meadow Saffron (Colchicum autumnale L.) is a peren- 

 nial plant with whitish or pale purple flowers, closely 

 resembling crocuses (Fig. 89). The long, broad, 

 lanceolate, dark green leaves are produced in spring, 

 while the flowers, two or three from a corm, bloom in 

 succession from August to October, soon dying down. 

 Curiously enough the seed-vessel remains beneath the 

 surface until the next spring, when it appears above 

 ground with the leaves. The bulb-like fleshy under- 

 ground stems (corms) are about the size of small tulip 

 bulbs, and lie from 6 to 10 inches deep in the soil. 

 This plant occurs in meadows from the far north of 

 England to the south coast, and has been reported to 

 the author as especially plentiful in Herefordshire and 

 parts of South Wales. It appears to occur especially 

 on limestone soils. 



C. autumnale has received many names more or less 

 characteristic of its growth, e.g. Autumn Crocus, Meadow 

 Crocus, Naked Ladies. It is poisonous in all its parts, 

 and many cases of poisoning of horses, cattle, and sheep 



