349 



€f)e ttoagurj? of iSatany. 



[CROS 



longing to the tribe Hordece, scarcely 

 distinct from Ehjmus. One species is de- 

 scribed, namely, C. rachitrichus, a native 

 of Syria and Persia. [D. M.] 



CROCEOUS, CROCATUS. Saffron-co- 

 loured. 



CROCOSMIA. A beautiful genus of 

 Iridacece, separated from Tritonia, and con- 

 sisting of one species, C. aurea, a native of 

 South Africa. It is a perennial Ixia-like 

 herb, with fleshy corms, slender erect com- 

 pressed stems terminating in a branched 

 flower-spike, the leaves narrowly sword- 

 I shaped, and the flowers, sessile on the 

 I branches, large, deep orange-coloured, and 

 not inaptly compared to large crocus blos- 

 soms. The perianth has a longish curved 

 slender tube, and a nearly regular six-part- 

 I ed limb of oblong segments spreading in a 

 star-like form, which causes the long fila- 

 ments and style, which are fully as long as 

 i the segments, to stand out very promi- 

 i nently. The ovary is oblong with about 

 I ten or twelve ovules in each of its three 

 j cells; this grows into a three-lobed sub- 

 ! globose capsule, having about three seeds 

 ; in each cell. In this particular, and in not 

 ! having the throat of the perianth en- 

 | larged, this plant differs from Tritonia, 

 with which it had been associated. [T. M.] 



I CROCUS. A well-known genus of Irida- 

 \ cece, very much prized in gardens as afford- 

 | ing some of the earliest of spring flowers. 

 ! The species and varieties are numerous, 

 I and exceedingly beautiful, best known as 

 early spring bloomers, a large proportion of 

 them flowering at that season ; but also 

 including several which are very handsome 

 autumn-flowering kinds. They are all 

 dwarf herbs, with fleshy corms and grassy 

 leaves, the latter not fully developed till 

 after the flowers have faded. The perianth 

 is funnel-shaped with an elongated tube, 

 and a six-parted limb of concave petaloid 

 segments, of which the inner are rather 

 smaller than the outer series : these seg- 

 ments are erect and closed in cloudy 

 weather and at night, but expand under 

 the influence of sunshine. There are three 

 erect included stamens inserted in the 

 throat of the tube, and an elongated style 

 terminated by three dilated wedge-shaped 

 fleshy cleft or fimbriated stigmas. The 

 ovary is three-celled, containing numerous 

 seeds. The species are mostly found in the 

 southern and eastern parts of Europe, and 

 in Asia Minor. A few species extend to 

 central Europe, and one or two, long culti- 

 vated for ornamental purposes, have be- 

 come established in some localities in 

 England. C.vernus, one of these latter, is a 

 handsome plant producing in very early 

 spring its large bluish-purple flowers with 

 orange-coloured stigmas. Another of them 

 is C. pyrenoeus or nudiflorus, an autumnal- 

 blooming species, producing light purple 

 flowers. C. vermis and versicolor have yielded 

 many of the fine garden spring-flowering 

 sorts, other favourite ones blooming at 

 that early season being, C. Imperatonius, 

 nivalis, reticulatus, annulotus, lagenceflorus, 

 with its variety luteus. Of the autumnal- 



blooming species some of the most beau- 

 tiful are C. speciosus, pulchellus, Visianicus- 

 Cartivrightianus, cancellatus, medius, Bory, 

 anus, byzantinus, and odorus. C. satirus, 

 which is a light-purple autumnal-flowering 

 species, formerly cultivated about Saffron 

 Walden, and partially naturalised, yields 

 the saffron of the shops, which consists 

 of the deep orange-coloured stigmas of the 

 flowers gathered with part of the style, 

 and carefully dried. According to Dr. 

 Pereira, a grain of good commercial saffron 

 contains the stigmas and styles of nine 

 flowers, and consequently 4,320 flowers are 

 required to yield one ounce of saffron. 

 English grown saffron is now rarely, if 

 ever, met with in commerce. The best 

 comes from Spain, while that imported 

 from France is usually considered of 

 second-rate quality. The quantity imported 

 A'aries between 5,000 and 20,000 lbs. weight 

 per annum. Saffron has a bitter taste, 

 and a penetrating aromatic odour, and 

 was formerly considered to possess stimu- 

 lant, emmenagogue, cordial, and antispas- 

 modicproperties, but when administered in 

 large quantities it is narcotic. It is em- 

 ployed, especially on the continent, as a 

 flavouring and colouring ingredient in cul- 

 inary preparations, liqueurs, &c, and in 

 modern medicine is only applied for simi- 

 lar purposes, except when included in 

 the domestic pharmacopoeia. Saffron gives 

 to water and alcohol three-fourths of its 

 weight of an orange-red extract, which is 

 largely employed in painting and djeing. 

 Another colouring agent of the same deep 

 orange colour, called safflowers, is quite 

 different from saffron, and consists of the 

 florets of Carthamus tinctorius. [T. M.] 



CROISETTE. (Fr.) Gentiana cruciata. 

 — VELTJE. Galium cruciatum. 



CROIX DE JE'RUSALEM or DE 

 MALTE. (Fr.) Lychnis chalcedonica. The 

 name Croix de Malte is also applied to 

 Tribulus terrestris. — , DE ST. JACQUES. 

 Sprekelia formosissima. 



CROSSANDRA. A genus of Indian Acan- 

 thacece, consisting of shrubs or herbs with 

 subentire verticillate leaves, and large red 

 flowers in terminal four-cornered spikes, 

 with broad bracts, and narrow membrana- 

 ceous bracteoles. The calyx is five-parted, 

 with broad lobes, the inner ones being 

 smallest; the corolla has a long tube, and a 

 flat five-cleft limb ; the four didynamous 

 stamens are included in the tube ; the one- 

 celled anthers are hairy and ciliated at the 

 margin; the capsule is compressed and two- 

 celled, with four ovate see^s at the base. 

 The genus is nearly related to Stenandrium, 

 which has, however, a more prostrate ha- 

 bit, and more slender anthers. [W. C] 



The same name is given to a little 

 known genus of terrestrial orchids, near 

 Gastrodia. 



CROSSOSTEMA. A climbing shrub of 

 the passion-flower family, found in Sierra 

 Leone. The calyx and .corolla each con- 

 sist of five segments ; those of the corolla 

 are larger than the sepals, more deeply 



