262 



A HISTORY OF THE SPECIES OF CROCUS. 



are not much disposed to close again. I am indebted to Mr. 

 Palmedo, the British vice-consul at Bastia, for bulbs collected 

 between Bastia and Capo Corso. 



Sect. 5. Reticulati. Bulb-coats reticulate. 



Sp. 11. C. odorus. Bivona Bernardi, stirp. rar. sic, 3, 

 p. 8. 



C. longiflorus. Rafinesque, Caratt., p. 84. 

 C. serotinus. Bertoloni, not of others. 



C. c. tun. vagin. brunneis fibris superne reticularis non cribrosis inferne fere 

 parallelis prope basim affixis, foliac. exter. reticulata medio cormo 

 vel infra aff. gemmae vagina interiore acuta 3 externis obtusis scapo 

 unciali vel ultra involucro germen superante, spatha ebracteata louge 

 exserta subobtusa superne viridi tubo flavescente spatham plus uncia 

 superante, fauce lutea intus sub petalorum basim pubescent*- limbo 

 ultra sesquiunciali lilacino ad basim intus saturate luteo, filamentis 

 luteis Iambus infra faucem insertis, antheris luteis, stigmatibus 

 aurantiaco-coccineis truncato-dentatis odoris, foliis la;vibus angustis 

 praecurrentibus costa leviter sulcata canaliculis enervibus, seminibus 

 subrotundis rufo-brunneis. Floret Octobri. 



Of this plant there are tivo varieties : the one, longiflorus (Bot. 

 Reg. 1844, 3, f. 4),fou?id in meadows near the coast of Sicily, 

 on the mountains of the Vol di Mazzaro and Palermo, on Mount 

 Stella near Pcestum, and in the upland pastures of Calabria 

 called Serra and Morgiana; the other, melitensis {Bot. Reg. 

 1844, 3,/. 5), occurs on Mount Verdala in Malta. 



Crocus longiflorus, to which the name odorus, given to it by 

 Bivona, was much more appropriate, is a very fragrant and desir- 

 able plant, flowering and ripening seed well with us, if not 

 placed in a very damp situation. It begins flowering in October, 

 producing its leaves at the same time. It answers well in pots, 

 to place upon the table in November. I have raised two or 

 three seedlings in which the orange colour of the throat is con- 

 tinued by a golden stripe the whole length of the sepals on the 

 outside. The Maltese plant is rather tenderer, and has the 

 flowers smaller, not long in the tube, and streaked on the out- 

 side with purple, and the throat much paler. It maintains its 

 difference by seed, but it seems too nearly allied to be separated 

 from the Italian and Sicilian plant, as a distinct species. The 

 name longiflorus is however quite inapplicable to it, and must 

 remain affixed to the latter variety. 



Sp. 12. C. Hadriaticus. Herbert, Bot. Reg., 1843, Misc. 

 77. 



C. c. tun. absque Stella ad basim persistente, vaginacea exteriore tenuissima 

 membranacea, proxima simili fibris confluentibus, interiore duriore 

 crassiore fibris subtiliter reticularis prope basim aflixa, t.foliaceis breviter 



