PART IL 



REVIEWS. 



Art. I. Transactions of the Horticultural Societij of London,, 

 Vol.VIL Part IV. 



(^Continued from Vol. V. p. 518.) 



50. An Account and Description of the Species and most remarkable 

 Varieties of Spring Crocuses cultivated in the Garden of the Hor- 

 ticultural Society. By Joseph Sabine, Esq. F.R.S. Secretary. 



We have already (Vol. V. p. 516.) noticed Mr. Sabine's 

 devotion to this genus, and the liberal donation of his collec- 

 tion, the labour of nearly thirty years, to the garden of the 

 Horticultural Society in 1818. " Many of these," says Mr. 

 Sabine, " were received from Holland, several from seed, 

 others from the public nurseries and private gardens in the 

 neighbourhood of London ; and for some of the most inte- 

 resting I was indebted to my late valued and lamented friend 

 Mr. George Anderson, whose rich collection in his garden at 

 East Ham, in Essex, was a never-failing source of liberal 

 supply to every curious collector. From Mr. Richard Wil- 

 liams of Turnham Green I received also several of much ex- 

 cellence : he has long been a diligent cultivator of crocuses, 

 and has been fortunate in obtaining from seed some of the 

 most beautiful of the varieties of C vernus which exist." 



The different species of Crocus did not attract the attention 

 of botanists till a late period. Linnaeus, in 1737, separated the 

 autumn from the spring crocuses, making the autumn or saffron 

 crocus C. sativus officinalis, and the spring crocus C sativus ver- 

 nus. Linnaeus believed only in one species. Willdenow, in 

 1797, formed of Linnaeus's varieties two species : the autumnal 

 ■crocus he made C. sativus, and the spring crocus C. vernus. 

 Botanical travellers have discovered many species in the 

 south of Europe and the temperate regions of Asia, the habi- 

 tats of the genus being confined to these two parts of the 

 globe. A monograph of the genus was published by Dr. 

 Goldbach in 1817, in the Me?noirs of the Lnperial Natural 



