Crocus 



we may refer to the clown in The Winters Tale, 

 who must have saffron, he says, to colour the warden 

 pies, but nowadays it seems to be supplanted by 

 cochineal. 



Tennyson's line, 



' And at their feet the crocus brake like fire,' 



must refer to C. aureus, which is not found in Italy. 

 It is the parent of our yellow crocuses. Our large 

 purple crocuses come from C. versicolor, which 

 grows in the hills by Nice and Mentone. 



Flower, autumn. 

 Italian name, Zafferano. 



CUCUMIS. 



' tortus . . . per herbam | cresceret in ventrem cucumis ' 



(Ge. iv. i2i). 



The cucumber (Cucumis sativus) was of Eastern 

 origin and in early cultivation, and a lodge in a 

 garden of cucumbers is the Oriental equivalent of 

 Tony Weller's pike. Virgil's phrase is precise. 



Some kind of garden frame, ' speculare,' was used 

 by Roman gardeners, but it is not clear whether as 

 early as Virgil's time. Columella says that frames 

 gave Tiberius his cucumbers in winter, and Martial 

 (viii. 14) implies that these 'specularia' were no 

 rarities under Domitan. 



Flower, summer. 

 Italian name, Cetriolo. 

 37 



