CROCUS CRUCIANELLA. 



101 



mended for the preceding will suit 

 this. 



Crocus reticulatus (ClotTi of Gold O.) 

 C. susianus. A very early blooming 

 kind. Flowers, early in spring ; of a 

 rich golden colour, brownish-black on 

 the outside. Leaves, very narrow, 

 smooth, grooved and veined on both 

 sides, appearing with the flowers. 

 Corm covered with a reticulated tunic. 



Levant. Commonly used in the 



spring garden and in borders, and well 

 worthy of naturalization, on very bare 

 and sunny banks, where its flowers 

 would prove very attractive in early 

 spring. Separation of the bulbs. 



Crocus sativus (Saffron Crocus). 

 The plant from which the saffron of 

 commerce is obtained, which consists, 

 in fact, of the dried filaments of the 

 flowers. Flowers, in autumn ; of a 

 pale violet with deeper coloured veins, 

 the tube of the flower long, exhaling 

 a sweet and delicate odour. Leaves, 

 very narrow, slightly ciliated, appear- 

 ing soon after the flowers. Corm 

 rather large, globular, usually de- 

 pressed, covered with a fibrous 

 greyish tunic. Native country uncer- 

 tain, but probably comes from the 

 Eastern shores of the Mediterranean. 



Sunny sheltered nooks in the 



rock-garden, or on slightly raised 

 warm and sunny banks or slopes, 

 always in perfectly drained and very 

 sandy soil. It is very shy of blooming 

 in cold soils. Separation of the bulbs 

 every third or fourth year, soon after 

 the leaves have withered. 



Crocus speciosus (Large Autumn C. ) 

 Perhaps the handsomest and lar- 

 gest of the late - blooming kinds. 

 Flowers, in autumn; bluish violet, 

 striped internally with deep purple 

 lines, which are deeper at the base of 

 the divisions. Leaves, appearing almost 

 with the flowers, very narrow, erect. 

 Corm of medium size, nearly round, 

 with tunics formed of reticulated fibres. 



Native of the Caucasus. The rock- 

 garden, borders, edgings to beds of 

 autumn flowers, clumps on warm 

 fringes of shrubberies, and naturali- 

 zation on sunny banks and slopes. 

 Separation of the bulbs every second 

 or third year, and about the period 

 when the leaves decay. 



Crocus vernus (Spring Crocus}. The 

 parent of most of the blue, white, and 

 striped kinds generally cultivated in 

 our gardens. Flowers, in spring ; lilac, 

 violet, white, bluish, or streaked with 

 white and violet ; inside of the throat 

 hairy. Leaves, grooved with veins, 

 appearing soon after the flowers. 

 Corm solid, fleshy, generally roundish, 

 depressed, sometimes slightly pear- 

 shaped or elongated, covered with 

 reticulated coats. Alps and Apennines. 



Edgings, borders, beds in the 



spring garden, naturalization, etc. The 

 beautifully striped varieties are well 

 worthy of being naturalized in the 

 grass on warm slopes, in the rougher 

 parts of pleasure-grounds and parks. 

 Separation of the bulbs. 



Crocus versicolor (Various- coloured 

 C.) Flowers, in spring ; white, richly 

 striped with purple, the throat some- 

 times yellow, sometimes white, smooth 

 on the inside, by which it can be 

 readily distinguished from C. vernus, 

 which has the inside of the throat 

 hairy. Leaves, grooved, with a double 

 opaque spathe, without neryes, ap- 

 pearing at the same time as the 

 flowers. Native of the South of 

 France. Similar positions and 

 treatment to those for C. Imperati. 



Crucianella stylosa (Long-styled (7.) 

 A pretty dwarf procumbent herb) 

 with leaves arranged in whorls, 9 to> 

 12 in. high. Flowers, in summer; 

 pale rose, small, but freely produced 

 in dense terminal heads ; style much- 

 protruding. Leaves, 8 to 9 in a whorl, 

 hispid, as are also the stems. Rocks 

 ami barren places in Persia and th 



