CROCUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



CROCUS. 



501 



species a brick pit is necessary. The 

 bottom of this should be well below the 

 level of the ground, and it should be filled 

 up with about I ft. in depth of fine river 

 silt or sandy loam, the surface of which 

 should be a little below the level of the 

 adjacent ground. Proper drainage is 

 essential, but Crocuses delight in a uni- 

 formly moist subsoil during their period 

 of growth. It is convenient to separate 

 the different species by strips of slate or 

 tiles, buried below the surface, the corms 

 being planted about 3 in. deep. A 

 mulching of rotted Cocoa-nut fibre or 

 finely sifted peat keeps the surface moist, 

 and prevents the loam from clogging or 

 caking on the surface. At the time of 

 the maturity of the foliage, generally 

 about the end of May, water should be 

 withheld and the bed covered up and 

 allowed to get quite dry till the end of 

 July, when a copious watering may be 

 given, or the pit may be exposed to rain. 



Of the earlier autumnal species suitable 

 for the open border the following may be 

 enumerated for successional flowering : 



C. Scharojani, orange ; early in August. 



vallicola, straw-coloured ; late in 

 August and early in September. 



nudiflorus, blue ; September. 



pulchellus, lilac ; Sept. and Oct. 



speciosus, blue ; Sept. and Oct. 



iridiflorus, blue ; Sept. and Oct. 



Salzmanni ) lilac or blue ; October 



Clusi / and November. 



cancellatus \ 



Cambessidesi [-in the early autumn. 



hadriaticus } 



These are succeeded by a long series of 

 late autumnal, winter, and early vernal 

 species, which are grown to best advantage 

 in a brick pit. 



Of the vernal species suitable for the 

 border, the earliest is C. Imperati, flower- 

 ing in February, followed by 



C. susianus, or Cloth of Gold, in Feb- 

 ruary, 

 biflorus 



etruscus 



suaveolens 



versicolor 



vernus 



Tommasinianus 



dalmaticus 



banaticus 



Sieberi and var. versicolor 



chrysanthus 



aureus 



sulphureus 



vars. pallidus and striatus 



stellaris 



Olivieri 



minimus 



Flower- 

 ing from 

 the end 

 of Feb- 

 ruary to 

 the first 

 week in 

 April. 



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. alatavicus. 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 Feb- 

 ruary, 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 Turkey, 

 Greece, and Western Bithynia, generally 

 at low elevations, flowering in February. 

 It was one of the first introduced to 

 cultivation, and is the parent of our yellow 

 garden or Dutch yellow Crocus, and of a 

 number of old varieties lacteus, sul- 

 phureus, pallidus, striatus, &c., the history 

 of which is unknown ; they are not found 

 wild, and are sterile. The wild plant 

 varies considerably, from unstriped orange 

 to varieties striped with gray 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 cul- 

 tivation, 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 deep rich purple, occasionally varied 

 with white, with a darker purple blotch 

 near the end of the segments. The throat 

 is glabrous, which easily distinguishes it 

 from C. vernus. It is cultivated in several 

 Continental and English gardens under 

 the name of C. veluchensis a distinct 

 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, 



