ALPINE FLO WERS. Part II. 



that way, and also by division. In a wild state it is said to prefer 

 dry -rich soil on table-land near trees. A native of East Tran- 

 sylvania, the Crimea, and neighbouring regions. 



CROCUS VEENUS.—Pwr//^ C. 



The parent of most of the blue, white, and striped kinds gene- 

 rally cultivated in our gardens. It has sported into a great 

 number of varieties- under cultivation, every one of them beau- 

 tiful and worthy of culture, and is naturalised abundantly in 

 meadows near Nottingham, at Hornsey, and some other places. 

 " It is one of the most widely extended Croci, and of the easiest 

 culture, producing seeds abundantly, which, as neither the birds 

 nor the mice seem to eat them, become almost a nuisance, from 

 the multitude of self-sown seedlings which come up spontane- 

 ously. It is the Crocus of the Alps, but its flower is small there, 

 promiscuously purple and white or whitish, generally with the 

 throat purple on the outside, but always white and hairy within. 

 It reaches Cevennes ; and I am told it is to be found, though rare, 

 on the Pyrenees. It extends, with white acute flowers, into Ca- 

 rinthia, and is found white, with very blunt obovate flowers, on the 

 Bavarian Alps, sometimes assuming a blush of purple. I believe 

 it is found only in particular spots on the Pyrenees, affecting the 

 oolite or Jurassic limestone. On the Alps it reaches above 5000 feet 

 of altitude. I have seen it both white and purple from the Tyrol. 

 The finer Neapohtan variety inhabits the loftiest mountains of 

 Carinthia and Lucania, not descending lower than 5000 feet. 

 On the Wengern Alp its flowers actually pierce the remaining 

 snow in June. The Odessa variety, which grows on part of the 

 Steppes, is much finer, and from that stock the finest garden 

 varieties seem to be derived. The segments of the flower are so 

 rounded and concave that the half expanded flower is nearly 

 spherical. They are white, sometimes beautifully striped in the 

 inside, or deep purple."— Herbert, in ' Trans. Roy. Hort. Soc' 



CROCUS VERSICOLOE.-3'/rz>«rf C. 



This is a pretty and distinct spring-flowering kind, which has 

 spread into a good many varieties, and is abundantly grown in 

 Holland. The ground colour of the flower is white, but richly 

 striped with purple, the throat sometimes white, sometimes 

 yellow, the inside being smooth, by which it can be readily dis- 



