THE MEADOW SAFFRON 



167 



ground stem. A few brownish scale-leaves, below 

 the flowers, serve to protect them when they are 

 pushed up through the soil. The perianth of six 

 united floral-leaves has the form of a very long, 

 funnel-like tube, reaching down to the corm. The six 

 stamens spring from the tube at various levels, but 



Fig. XVII. — The Corm or Underground Stem of Colchkum, the 

 Meadow Saffron. 



1. Corm seen from the front. 2. Longitudinal section through corm. 



a, corm ; 5, sheathing leaf; v, flowering axis of last year ; d, foliage leaf; 

 e, leaf on flower-stalk ; /, next year's corm. 



the ovary is right at the base of the tube, a foot deep 

 in the soil. Three very slender, thread-like styles 

 extend from the ovary, nearly the whole length of the 

 tube of the perianth. 



In describing the flowers of Primula (p. 68), we 

 drew attention to the occurrence of two forms of 

 flowers, one with a long style and low stamens, the 



