168 PLANTS OF THE ALPINE MEADOWS 



other with a short style and high stamens. It is 

 asserted that the Meadow Saffron possesses three 

 forms of flowers, in which the styles are long, short, 

 and intermediate in length respectively, and is thus 

 similar to the well-known case of Lythrum described 

 by Darwin. 



The flowers are probably fertilised by bees. The 

 seeds remain enclosed in the ovaries, deep in the soil, 

 throughout the winter, and it is not until the following 

 spring that they are pushed up above ground with 

 the leaves, by the growth of the region of the stem 

 just below the ovaries. Often, however, only one fruit 

 comes to maturity. It is probable that the whole 

 structure of the flower is so designed that the fruits 

 shall remain buried in the soil throughout the winter, 

 and the seeds thus escape injury from frost. It is 

 obvious that, to a plant flowering so late in the year 

 as the Saffron, some contrivance, which will allow 

 time for the seeds to mature, and preserve them 

 unharmed from winter frosts, must exist. 



The seeds of the Meadow Saffron contain a power- 

 ful, poisonous alkaloid, known as colchicin, which is 

 sometimes made use of medicinally. 



