OF SELttORNE. 331 



and the Helleborus viridis as soon as ever it emerges 

 out of the ground, we do not wonder, because they 

 are kindred plants that we expect should keep pace 

 the one with the other. But other congenerous vege- 

 tables differ so widely in their time of flowering, that 

 we cannot but admire. I shall only instance at present 

 in the Crocus sativus, the vernal, and the autumnal cro- 

 cus, which have such an affinity, that the best botanists 

 only make them varieties of the same genus, of which 

 there is only one species ; not being able to discern any 

 difference in the corolla, or in the internal structure 2 . 

 Yet the vernal crocus expands its flowers by the begin- 

 ning of March at farthest, and often in very rigorous 

 weather; and cannot be retarded but by some violence 

 offered : while the autumnal (the Saffron) defies the 

 influence of the spring and summer, and will not blow 

 till most plants begin to fade and run to seed. This cir- 

 cumstance is one of the wonders of the creation, little 

 noticed, because a common occurrence ; yet ought not 

 to be overlooked on account of its being familiar, since 

 it would be as difficult to be explained as the most 

 stupendous phenomenon in nature. 



Say, what impels, amidst surrounding snow 

 Congeal'd, the crocus' flamy bud to glow ? 



2 The more minute analysis that has obtained since the time of Gilbert 

 White has produced an immense change in the views of botanists with re- 

 spect to this genus. Crocus now consists not of one species, but of thirty 

 at the least ; and no fewer than four distinct kinds are included among 

 the plants of Britain. Yet this more strict definition of the crocuses 

 scarcely tends to diminish the wonder expressed above, why, among 

 plants so extremely similar in appearance, differences so striking should 

 exist in their seasons of developement. Another singularity in the genus 

 would doubtless have excited the admiration of our author, had he been 

 acquainted with it: he would have viewed with the interest that attaches 

 to a problem requiring solution the peculiarity of the naked -flowering saf- 

 fron, and would probably have spoken of it also as of one of the wonders 

 of the creation, on account of its producing its flowers, like the meadow- 

 saffron, unaccompanied by the protection or the presence of leaves, which 

 in these instances instead of preceding the bloom do not appear until after 

 the flower has faded. E. T. B. 



