178 ALPINE FLOWERS. PART 11. 



the Royal Gardens at Kew by Professor Orphanides, of Athens, 

 and named after him by Dr. Hooker, who describes it as most 

 lovely, and very distinct. A native of Greece, and, till plen- 

 tiful, should be exclusively planted on warm slopes of the rock- 

 garden. 



CROCUS EETICtTLATUS.— C"/(7//4 of Gold C. 



This is the little rich golden Crocus with the exterior of its 

 flowers of a brownish black. It is the earliest of the commonly 

 cultivated spring Crocuses, and a native of the Crimea and 

 South-Eastern Europe. There are several varieties, and among 

 them a lilac and a white, but these I have never seen in cultiva- 

 tion. Suitable for association with the earliest and dwarfest 

 flowers of the dawn of spring, thriving in ordinary soil. It is 

 generally known as C. susianus. 



CROCUS %KTrrU&.— Saffron C. 



This species was formerly cultivated in England for the produc- 

 tion of saffron, which is made from the fringed and rich orange 

 style. Its native oountiy is not known with certainty, but it is pro- 

 bably from the shores of the Mediterranean. It blooms in autumn 

 from the end of September to the beginning of November accord- 

 ing to position and soil. The flowers are of a pale violet, with 

 deeper-coloured veins, the tube of the flower long ; the erect 

 anthers nearly three quarters of an inch long, of a rich clear yellow, 

 on small pale lilac filaments ; the stigmas of a rich orange red, 

 divided into three branches, each about an inch and a quarter 

 long, becoming thicker towards the apex,hollow, and so heavy that 

 they droop out of the flower — contrasting singularly with the erect 

 yellow anthers. The flowers have a sweet and deUcate odour. 

 The sharp-pointed, very narrow, leaves appear about the same 

 time as the blooms, remain in rigid bundles throughout the 

 winter, and acquire their full development in spring. The bulbs 

 of the Saffron Crocus should be planted from four to six inches 

 under the surface, and it loves a deep good sandy loam and 

 a sunny warm position. Where permanently planted, six inches 

 apart wiU be near enough to place the bulbs, and in soils where 

 the plant thrives, it will be necessary every second or third year 

 to raise and divide them. Where the natural soil is too cold 

 for the. full development of this plant, it will be easy to give 



