THE CROCUS. 151 



species, the leaves distinctly marked with a central white 

 line. Crocus boryanns, flowering in autumn, white with 

 yellow throat with a stain of purple outside. Crocus pul- 

 <//<'/ /its, flowering in autumn, pearly blue with dark pencil 

 lines, the throat orange-yellow. Crocus sativus, the saffron 

 crocus, an autumn -flowering plant, the flowers violet 

 with long tubes, sweet-scented ; requires a dry warm 

 soil, or it will but rarely flower. The dried stigmas of 

 this crocus constitute the genuine saffron of commerce. 

 We say " genuine," because common shop saffron, like 

 restaurant soup, is made of anything that comes nearest 

 to hand, several other species of crocus being pressed into 

 the service, with florets of the marigold and slices oi 

 the flowers of the pomegranate. It is not unlikely that 

 a very nice-looking sample might be made from scraped 

 carrots. The matter is not of great consequence now, 

 because saffron has parted from the fame it enjoyed as 

 a drug that " maketh the sences more quicke and liuely, 

 shaketh off heauie and drowsie sleepe, and maketh a 

 man merrie." Gerarde, from whom the foregoing is a 

 quotation, figures several " saffrons," including crocuses 

 and colchicums, and he reminds us that Saffron Walden 

 obtains its name from the abundance of saffron-producing 

 flowers in its vicinity. Finally, Crocus speciosns is a par- 

 ticularly fine autumn-flowering species, with flowers of a 

 rich violet colour, striped with purple lines. 



Crocuses of all kinds require a somewhat sandy and 

 warm soil, but the common garden kinds will really thrive 

 in almost any soil or situation. The rarer kinds, at all 

 events, should have well-drained positions and a some- 

 what light soil, and, generally speaking, warmth, for they 

 are natives of the south of Europe and Asia Minor, and, 



