Jan. 
Plate 
‘new Border, each at ten Inches Diftanc 
= the Centre of every Square, place regularly one 
€; and ‘in 
large Root, or three of the fimaller Pieces. 
Cover thefe with the Soil referv’d for this Purpofe, 
and give them a very gentle Watering. After 
this they may be left to Nature; for they are 
hardy and full of Life. PA: 
Thofe in the moft favourable Situation | 
The Plant may be rais’d from the Seeds, which 
ripen very well with tis: 
to be at that Trouble ; 
greatly, and grow freely. 
but it is not worth while 
for the Roots encreafe 
4+ DOUBLE COLCHICUM. 
Few Flowers are more confpicuous than that of | and Difpofition of the Parts, exceeds moft of the 
XVIIL which we treat in this Place; and few more beau- 
Fig. 4. tiful. 1 3 
| The Colchicum, in its fingle State, has a great 
deal of Elegance. It has here all’ the Benefit of 
luxuriant Culture. 7 | 
Moft of the Botanical Writers have nam’d.it; 
and whether in the fingle or double State, under 
its proper Title, Colchicum commune, and Colchicum 
flore pleno, ane 
Linn us retains the Generical Name, and 
adds, as a Diftin&tion for the Species, foliis planis 
 Lanceolatis ereé&is : Colchicum, with | upright, flat, 
{fpear-pointed Leaves. 
It is one of thofe Plants whofe Flowers and 
Leaves appear at different Seafons, : 
The Root is of a Figure approaching to round, 
but fomewhat oblong and comprefs’d : it is {mall 
at the Top, and at the Bottom 
nifh’d with many white Fibres. 
are of a dufky réddifh brown, but within, the 
Subftance of the Root is white, flefhy, and full }, 
of a milky Juice. 3 | 
From this, at the End of Autumn, rifes the 
Flower, fupported on no Stalk, but iffling imme- 
diately from the Subftance of the Root, by its 
tubular Part, which rifes to four or five Inches 
above the Surface before it begins to enlarge; 
and thence dilates irito 4 waft and f{pecious Flower. — 
The tubular Part is of a pale red, angulated, 
tender, and perfeétly fmooth. Authors who men- 
tion a Stalk to the Flowers of Colchicum, are to be 
-underftood of this Part of the Flower. Cor- 
pus led the Way; and thofe have follow’d 
him, who had not. the Atterition to examine that 
Part with Stri€tnefs, — , — a? 
This {lender and angulated Tube of the Flower, : 
is defended under the Earth, and to its Surface, 
by a few filmy Subftances, which keep off the 
Infect Devourers, whom its Juice wou’d otherwife 
draw to it; and preferve it from being rotted by | 
the Damp. | 
_ At the Top it divides into fix large and beau- 
tiful Segments : thefe are pointed, flefhy, hollow 5 
and, where the Flower is fingle, they naturally 
ftand erect; but when luxuriant Culture makes it 
double, the accumulated Segments in the Middle, 
bear down thefe outer ones, and only a few of 
them maintain themfelves in the natural erect 
Pofture. In this State the whole Flower is thrown 
beautifully open; and in Size, Colour, Proportion, 
N° 18. s 
= longer. 
Beauties of the Garden, i 
». The Colour is the moft delicate red that can be 
conceiv’d; it is a mixt Tin@ of Crimfon and 
Flefh-colour : ufually very pale; but even in that 
State full of Luftre; fometimes glowing with 4 
deeper and much richer Dye. 
In the double Flower the Colour is na 
| whitith. | | 
The fame Luxuriance of N ature, which in this. 
Plant fills the Flower with Petals, ufually fends 
up two or three from the fame Root; whereas, in 
the fingle Kind, there commonly is but one Flower 
from each. This alfo is a great Recommendation; 
they form the fuller Beauty, and they laft the 
_~ There follows a thice-parted Seed-veffel, with 
numerous rounded Seeds. __ 
To know the Clafs, the Student mug éxarilihe 
a fingle, not a double Flower : the additional 
* Segments in thefe take the Place of the Organs of 
Fructification, or, at the leaft, confufe the : 
count: . In the fingle Flower they are extremely 
confpicuous ; and we have already told the young 
Botanift, the fingle and double differ only as Va=. 
-_Tieties from Accident, the Species being the fame; 
In this Flower he will perceive there are fix 
Filaments: thefe are fhorter than the Segments, 
_and grow flender upwards. Their Colour is a 
delicate pale red; and on the Top of each. is 
| plac’d an oblong Button. Among thefe rife three 
, Styles. They have their Origin from the Rudi- 
ment of the Seed-veffel, which is at that Timé 
_bury’d in the very Subftance of the Root, 
The Plant therefore, is of the Hlexandrous or 
fixth Clafs in the LinnZan Syftem, and one of — 
the Trigynia. 
Culture of the Dovstz Coiéxicum. 
It is a Native of our. Meadows, fincle, but 
not common. The Soil in which it thrives beft, 
isa rich black Mould moderately damp; and | 
there; in the Courfe of N ature, after the Flowers 
are faded, the Seed-veffel flowly ripens, and raifes 
itfelf toward the Surface. 
Early in Spring appear the Leaves ; and. they 
are broad, fomewhat like tho of the Lilly, and 
Hhh of 
