476 



bright scarlet seeds remain attached to the plant all through the 



winter. — Fl. May — August. Perennial. 



2. 1. F'ieuddcorus (Corn Flag, 

 Yellow Iris).— A stout aquatic plant 

 with creeping, AcuArhizuinei ; round 

 stem, 2 — 5 feet high ; sword-shaped 

 leaves ; and large, handsome yellow 

 flowers with unfringed sepals. — 

 Marshes and river-banks ; common. 

 The rhizome yields a black dye, and 

 the seeds, il is said, may be roasted 

 and used as a substitute for coffee. — 

 Fl. May — August. Perenn-ial, 



3.* /. iiiberosa, with tubers, 4- 

 angled leaves, and solitary purple 

 flowers, found at Penzance and at 

 Cork, is one of several cultivated 

 species occasionally found apparently 

 wild. 



*2. Cr6(*us. — Herbaceous plants 

 with fleshy eoniis ; no aerial stem ; 

 linear, radical leaves, white beneath, 

 with revolute edges; and generally 

 solitary, large, funnel shaped flowers 

 with a long periaiitlhluhe : style 

 slender ; stiginatic lobes 3, widening 

 upwards ; eapsule pedicellate. 

 (Name from the Greek hrnkns, 

 saffron, and that from hoke. a 

 thread.) Several species are natural- 

 ised in various [)arts of England, 

 such as C. offiiiudlis, the Purple 

 Spring Crocus, in meadows at Not- 

 tingham and elsewhere, flowering in 

 IMarch and April ; but the only 

 species with any claim to be con- 

 sidered indigenous is C. iiudifl.drus 

 (Naked-flowered Crocus), with leaves 

 appearing in March, and solitarv, 

 purple flowers in September and 

 October, occurring in meadows in the Midland counties. This 

 genus must not be confused with the C'ohiiieiiui': which are luis- 

 leadingly called Autumn ( 'rocuses or Meadow Sallrons, but belong 

 to the Liliacece, having stamens. 



GLAdT'.'LUS 1LLVR1CUS. 



