478 Tridacee—Montbretia. 
flowers, makes a beautiful bed treated in the same way ag 
Gladiolus. 
Af. fucdta is yellow and scarlet, and M. rdsea is rose and 
white. 
There are several other South African genera which contri- 
bute a few handsome species, such as Babiana, Watsonia, and 
Witsenia; but they are strictly speaking greenhouse plants. 
14. CROCUS. 
It is unnecessary to go into the details of the technical 
characters of this familiar genus, farther than to enable the 
beginner to distinguish 
it from Bulbocidium 
and Colchicum, two 
venera very similar in 
habit though belong- 
ing to a _ different 
family with 6 stamens 
and a free ovary. The 
bulbsor corms are more 
or less densely clothed 
with fibrous coats. 
Leaves all radical, 
linear, enveloped in a 
scarious sheath at the 
base. Flowers solitary 
or fascicled,almost ses- 
sile onthe bulb. Peri- 
anth-tube long and 
very narrow. Stamens 
on the bases of the 
outer segments. Ovary 
underground. Stigmas 
more or less cleft or 
fringed. Confined to 
Fig. 232. Crocus vernus. (4 nut. size.) the northern hemi- 
sphere in the Old World and particularly abundant in Asia Minor 
and the Mediterranean region. The old Greek name. The spe- 
cies and varicties in cultivation are exceedingly numerous and 
difficult cf discrimination. We can only afford space for 
short descriptions of the commoner species.!. For convenience 
1 Chiefly taken from an outline key, kindly communicated by Mr, J. G, Baker. 
