By Adrian Hardy Haworth, Esq. 125 



visible in the base of the flowers, at the time of flowering, in 

 the incipient state of what Linnjeus has so improperly called 

 a germen; being at that period secluded from the reach of the 

 eye, hidden far beneath the soil, near the very bulb, at the 

 base of the long, and at that time almost sessile tube of the 

 corolla. For it is not until long after the total decay of the 

 flower, that the swolu capsule emerges upon a real white 

 peduncle above the surface of the earth. This extraordinary 

 mode of semination, is still more conspicuous in Colchicum, 

 the flowers of which are seen in autumn unaccompanied 

 even by leaves, the latter not appearing until the spring fol- 

 lowing, folding in their fostering bosoms the large, unwieldy, 

 pregnant capsules. Even in the present subject of this essay, 

 one solitary species, and that a British one, observes the same 

 fashion ; viz. Crocus nudiflorus ; flowering without leaves 

 in autumn, which it throws out along with the fruit in 

 spring. 



The seeds of Crocuses are best sown immediately after being 

 gathered, in light, dry earth, that will neither bind nor retain 

 moisture long : but it is not necessary that it should be rich ; 

 as that might encourage a too redundant, and fatal humidity. 

 Large pots, or pans, or small shallow boxes of such soil, 

 with a sufficiency of holes and potsherds at the bottom, for 

 the purpose of draining off with certainty, all superfluous 

 moisture, are the properest receptacles for these seeds; which 

 should be sown thinly (for almost every one will vegetate), 

 and not covered at the time of sowing more than half an 

 inch with the mould. 



The most eligible aspect, or situation, for the seed boxes, 

 until the autumnal rains set in, is a moderately shady, 



