188 COLCHICtlM. 



small fibrous roots. The leaves spring immediately from the cor- 

 mus ; they are long, erect, broadly-lanceolate, acute, entire, dark 

 green, sheathing at the base, and vmited three or four together^ 

 The flowers proceed from the cormvis, and are surrounded at the 

 base by a membranous sheath ; they appear in autumn, ante- 

 rior to the leaves, which are not developed until spring. The 

 perianth (calyx) is single, petaloid, of a light roseate purple, 

 with a very long narrow tube, arising immediately from the cor- 

 mus, and a six-parted limb, whose segments are oblong-ovate, ob- 

 tuse, erect, and concave. The stamens are six in number, with 

 white subulate filaments, inserted on the segments of the pe- 

 rianth ; anthers oblong, versatile, yellow, turned outwards. The 

 germen is situated at the bottom of the tube, in the midst of the 

 cormus, supporting three long filiform styles, terminated by as 

 many linear recurved and downy stigmas. The fruit is a sub- 

 sessile capsule, with three cells and three straight lobes, rather 

 acute at the summit, connected at their lower part, and opening 

 longitudinally on their inner face. The seeds are small, whitish, 

 smooth, and rounded, with a membranous testa, and a dense 

 fleshy albumen. Plate 13, fig. 2, (a) the capsule opening natu- 

 rally ; (b) the pistil ; (c) the capsule cut transversely to shew the 

 seeds. 



The Colchicum is a native of the southern and most of the 

 central countries of Europe, but is not enumerated in the Flora 

 of Holland. It grows in moist rich meadows at Little Stonham 

 and Bury, Suffolk ; Filkins and Bradwell, Oxfordshire ; near 

 Devizes, Wiltshire ; the foot of the Malvern Hills, Worcester- 

 shire ; it also occurs in Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Mid- 

 dlesex, Warwickshire*, and some other counties. Lightfoot 

 gives " Alloa " as the only locality for it in Scotland. The flowers 

 appear in September and October, before the leaves and fruit, 

 which are not produced until the following spring. 



This plant owes its generic name to Colchis, in Natolia, which 

 abounded in this and other poisonous vegetables, and hence 

 perhaps gave rise to some of the poetical fictions respecting the 



* Miller says, " I have observed it in great plenty in the meadows in 

 Warwickshire, at the beginning of September. The country people call 

 the flowers Naked Ladies, because they come up naked, without any leaves 

 or cover." A similar name is given them in other countries as may be 

 seen in the list of svnonvmes. 



